The original article can be found here.
Article Highlights:
– South Africa has one of the highest failure rates for SMMEs, with five out of seven of them failing within the first year;
– A greater effort to form partnerships between the public and private sector would ensure that SMMEs received practical and relevant support, which was accessible;
– SMMEs access to finance is a major stumbling block;
– Currently the greatest gap for companies in reaching their preferential procurement points is in procurement with black, women-owned businesses, as well as the designated groups such as youth and the disabled;
– Government’s criteria were not well designed for black-owned small businesses to access support funds, or for corporates to offer assistance in this regard
