The objective of this treatise study was to determine the leading causes which limit the development of SMME contractors, to ascertain the accessibility of SMME incubators available to support SMME development and to identify the cause of poor management performance by SMME contractors based in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality. A qualitative method was adopted for this study. The primary data was collected using a structured interview guide which incorporated the sub problems and the research questions. The salient findings of this study are: SMME contractors are unaware of the available business information and government support programmes designed to assist them; SMME contractors do not receive capital from banks when they don‟t have collateral; Desperation to secure projects among SMME contractors is the leading cause for under-pricing; SMME contractors are still paid later than the 30 day period for completed work; SMME owners who had started their construction companies lacked training and do not have the relevant experience and knowledge required to manage a construction company. In summary the study concluded that SMME who have access to capital have high growth prospects than those that have not. Accessibility to information and awareness of available opportunities remains significant for the growth of SMMEs. Construction related knowledge and training for SMME owners contributes vastly to the success of SMME companies. The study recommended that; Government needs to promote the accessibility of SMME incubators and ensure institutions designed to assist SMMEs with finance are accessible; The effectiveness of current development programs for small enterprises and skills development programs should be reviewed; MMBM should setup a mentoring program to help train SMME contractors theoretically and practically; NMBM local government should promote women to own SMMEs in order to close the gap of inequality in the built environment; Banks must work with government institutions to ensure that they are able to fund SMMEs.

The Republic of South Africa (RSA) became a democracy when the African National Congress (ANC) came to power in 1994. However, more than twenty years after the apartheid era, the people of the RSA are highly politicised and society still shows an extremely high level of inequality in income that is aggravated by the lack of formal job opportunities in the country. Disturbingly, early-stage entrepreneurial activity in the RSA declined from 7.8 percent in 2008 to 5 percent in 2009. As a result, the low levels of entrepreneurial activity are partly responsible for the stagnation in the structural transformation of the economy. The economy remains dependent on sectors such as agriculture and mining where looting, instability, violence and rent-seeking are endemic in spite of plentiful natural resources. As a consequence of these factors, manufacturing is becoming increasingly uncompetitive and the economy is becoming increasingly less innovative. The RSA‟s government leaders should have used the strengths of the country to minimise or rectify the weaknesses of the extremely high levels of inequality in income and the lack of formal job opportunities. Instead, these leaders identified their supporters, satisfied their short-term consumption demands, distributed jobs to the party faithful and provided social welfare to the poor. Additionally, the majority of school leavers are not pursuing tertiary studies but, with limited or little education, they still have to form part of the potential labour force of the future. The youth employment rate for 15 to 24 year-olds, in the RSA, is as low as 12.5 percent. Again, this highlights the importance of finding alternative ways to increase the population‟s participation in the economy, probably through some form of entrepreneurship. The purpose of this study was to develop a theoretical model with the main objective being to identify the factors (variables) that will promote growth, sustainability and good governance in Christian-owned Small, Micro and Medium Enterprises (SMME) within the RSA. Business is commonly viewed as a secular pursuit and religious people, particularly in Western societies, have a narrow view of the conceptual and practical application of their faith and spirituality in their businesses. As a result, the potential of businesses to influence communities, particularly with regard to issues such as social iniquities and cultural reform, good governance, responsible business behaviour, social capital, spiritual intelligence (SQ) and Christian entrepreneurship orientation appear to be, at worst, more or less irrelevant and, at best, greatly under-valued and under-utilised. The intersection of these constructs provides an understanding of how an entrepreneur‟s heightened consciousness in terms of his/her personal values and beliefs can affect his or her business activities and crucial characteristics of the entrepreneurial process, such as the recognition of opportunities, the creation of new ventures, as well as the operation and growth of these business ventures. This study uncovered a number of themes that shed light on how Christian SMME owner-managers rationalise the everyday dealings of their business lives as an expression of their faith. This study is an expression of a complex phenomenon that is extremely relevant in the present day and sharpens the focus on the important role that religious faith has to play in the field of business outcomes. Many Christian entrepreneurs express a motivational need to give back to their communities, customers and other stakeholders of the business venture. Christian entrepreneurs value intrinsic factors like purpose, passionate work and personal calling above wealth, fame, power, money, and recognition. A combination of Christian character traits forms the backbone of a Christian‟s internal power and purpose. God created people to glorify Him and this purpose is achieved through the fulfilling of a personal calling. A calling is often accompanied by a conviction of divine influence and the vocation in which one customarily engages. The call to the Christian entrepreneur is to be the salt and light in an environment (Mathew 5:13) like RSA, that is not conducive to entrepreneurial behaviour, where unemployment is very high, infrastructure is buckling under the pressures of bad management and corruption is rife.

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are engines of growth. It has been determined globally that these enterprises are the largest employers in economies. Small and Medium Enterprises fail fundamentally to succeed in South Africa. Many challenges and barriers were identified as the reason why the enterprise fails to survive or succeed for at least 42 months. Poor performance of the SMEs could be blamed on the lack of meaningful support including an over-regulated environment, red tape and the poor quality of education and training. A number of Small and Medium Enterprise owners in Turkey were interviewed to determine if the enterprise development support system contributed to success and economic growth. The government succeeded to improve the economy of Turkey profoundly by investing and supporting this very important sector. Turkey is positioned 17th in the world based on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The purpose of this study was to develop an entrepreneurial development framework for SMEs in South Africa. The government needs to support and implement this framework to stimulate economic growth, to address the poor quality of education and training and to establish a system to measure the performance of critical success factors. A case study research approach was employed to address five propositions that were investigated in this research project. Semi-structured interviews studied the perceptions and experiences of the SME owners in Turkey. The study found a positive relationship between economic growth, a meaningful enterprise development support system, education and training, critical success factors and entrepreneurship and the perceived success of entrepreneurial ventures in South Africa. The establishment and implementation of an entrepreneurial development framework will encourage the creation of new ventures. The government will be able to achieve the goal of economic growth as set out in the National Development Plan. The establishment of SMEs will result in employment, social stability, economic growth and the generation of tax revenues. The purpose of an entrepreneurial development framework is to ensure the sustainable economic development and prosperity of South Africa.

The rise of microfinance in South Africa as a development trajectory has dismissed ideas that small business enterprises have no significant contribution to the economic growth and development of the country. The primary objective of the study is to assess the impact of microfinance service providers on the success and sustainability of small business enterprises in the Nelson Mandela Bay. By applying descriptive statistics, 2 ordinary least square regression analyses as well as correlation matrix; the results reveal that microfinance has a positive and significant impact on the success and sustainability on small business enterprises in the Nelson Mandela Bay. The research findings hold a variety of implications for Government and policymakers. The study recommends that the microfinance sector must be under good governance through the microfinance regulatory and supervisory structures, since the sector contributes a great deal towards one of the most important objectives of the Post-Apartheid Government. Further, small business entrepreneurs must be well exposed to the requirements, standards and norms which govern the financial sector. This is particularly important in terms of the National Credit Act provisions.

Introduction: Managers in small businesses are faced with a dilemma of meeting the requirements of health and safety legislation and trying to grow their businesses. It is important that they understand the business value of occupational health and safety programs. For them to allocate resources to occupational health and safety programs they need to understand if there are any economic benefits attached to such programs. Thus this study was designed to investigate the benefits of occupational health services on economic performance and growth of small businesses in Gauteng, South Africa. Method: This was a descriptive quantitative study. A self administered structured questionnaire was developed and distributed to 200 small businesses in Gauteng Province, South Africa. Thirty completed questionnaires were received back, representing a response rate of 15%. Data was analysed by the NMMU Unit for Statistical Consultation, using STATISTICA. Results: Economic performance moderately correlated with the presence of occupational health and safety professionals. It moderately correlated with the categories of occupational health and safety professionals in a small business. The level of knowledge, awareness, attitude and perception on occupational health and safety was rated high. Eighty three percent (83%) of the respondents had a clear understanding of their responsibility in terms of the health and safety function at work. The level of employee engagement was rated high with seventy six percent (76%) of respondents reporting that they get recognition for their work, and eighty six percent (86%) indicated that they were happy with the relationship they had with their boss. There was a difference between managers and employees in terms of how they view economic performance and growth of their companies. Conclusion: The presence of occupational health and safety professionals as well as different categories of occupational health and safety professionals are factors of importance in the economic performance and growth of small businesses in Gauteng, Republic of South Africa. The weak correlation between economic performance and growth of small businesses requires a further study with a bigger sample size.

Small and Medium Enterprises are the engines of economic development. In developing countries, they play an irreplaceable role in poverty alleviation through creation of jobs and contribution towards the countries’ gross domestic products. South Africa is faced with a challenge of high failure rate of SMEs despite the efforts by government to support and grow this sector. For a country to have a strong sustainable economy, sustainable and successful SME sector is necessary. Literature reviews have demonstrated that incorporating sustainability aspect into entrepreneurship improves the performance of businesses. Research on implementation of sustainability principles by SMEs is limited and SMEs have been left out in sustainability teachings and monitoring. The purpose of the study was to analyse the role played by entrepreneurial mind-set and entrepreneurial education on sustainability of SMEs. The research was conducted amongst 10 SME owners/managers with businesses located in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. Case study method using a semi-structured interview guide was conducted. Results were transcribed, analysed and interpreted. Results of the research demonstrated that SME owners/managers possess entrepreneurial mind-set, which is a necessity to run a successful business. There was also evidence that entrepreneurial education enhances entrepreneurial mind-set of SME owners/managers. SMEs owners/managers also demonstrated that they implement sustainability principles informally with no guiding documents. With regards to implementation of sustainability principles, there was no noticeable difference between SME owners/managers who had undergone entrepreneurship education and the ones who had not gone through entrepreneurship education. This highlighted the need to incorporate sustainability issues in entrepreneurship education courses. The study brings contribution towards building sustainable SMEs.

South Africa is faced with much poverty, joblessness and an economy that is not sustainable. Unemployment is on the rise in South Africa with the Eastern Cape having the largest number of unemployed people. Co-operatives can be used as a tool to combat poverty and for job creation, but the problem is that co-operatives are still an unknown entity in South Africa. Co-operatives are only known by a few and those few are still sceptical and not willing to form co-operatives. The already established businesses are also not forthcoming nor showing any willingness to do businesses with co-operatives. The less they do business with them, the less the co-operatives flourish. The present study investigates to what extent co-operatives can be a solution to decrease poverty and unemployment. The primary objective of this study was to make a contribution to the development and success of co-operatives by investigating the performance of co-operatives in the in the important business functions of financial management, general management, human resources management, marketing management and operations management. The study also investigated which of these business functions were the most important determinants of business success in these co-operatives. A sample of 50 co-operatives in the East London area of the Eastern Cape was selected and three members per co-operative were requested to answer the questionnaire. The expected number of respondents was therefore 150. However, only 65 usable questionnaires (response rate of 43.3%) were returned. The SEDA Small Business Assessment Tool was used to measure the co-operatives’ performance in these business functions. The empirical results revealed that the strongest correlates of business success in these co-operatives were financial management (r = 0.57, p < 0.05) followed by human resources management (r = 0.49, p < 0.05) and operations management (r = 0.40, p < 0.05). The results also show that, while the co-operatives do have some form of financial management strategies in place, they do not address some of the major financial management concepts that are really essential in a sound financial management policy. The co-operatives generally do not follow any formal financial costing system at all. The results however indicated that the co-operatives expressed high confidence in their financial, general and human resource management practices and low confidence in their marketing and operations management practices.

The effective application of destination marketing strategies leads to increased business activity within a city. This in turn leads to higher attainment levels of social and economic development. It can therefore be said that destination marketing strategies are an essential factor in the growth and functioning of a city. The objective of destination marketing is the city’s image or identity which in turn is the starting point for developing the city’s brand. Cities require an identity. It is crucial that a city has a unique identity with which visitors, tourists and residents can relate to. Examples of these unique city identities are Los Angeles which is known as the City of Angels and Florence which is known as the City of Lilies. The image of a place influences people’s perceptions and choices when visiting, living and conducting business in a specific city. The city’s image and brand serves as a conduit for city residents to identify with their city. The essence of the brand must be discovered, identified, brought to the surface and not imagined, created or added from the outside through an artificial process. Cities that make use of effective destination marketing strategies have endured a considerable increase in business and leisure activities. Notably, business events are important attractions and drivers for activity in many destinations. Multiple parties designing a brand strategy for a city should thoroughly assess the resources and assets a city possesses. A city branding strategy can enable a city to leverage its ‘tangible and non-tangible assets‟. In order for business tourism to develop in South Africa, it is essential that players within the sector have a thorough understanding of international dynamics in order to capitalise on the opportunities that are provided in South Africa. Nelson Mandela Bay in South Africa is a city with vast potential. The city is ideal as a tourist destination as it is situated along the Sunshine coast of South Africa. It could be said of the city that it is on the threshold of rising eminence in the coming decades. This treatise investigates the approach and success factors for a successful rebranding of Nelson Mandela Bay through business events as part of a destination marketing strategy. The treatise will ascertain which business events residents of the Nelson Mandela Bay would require and support. A survey was conducted among citizens of Nelson Mandela Bay using a questionnaire from which 952 responses were received. The questionnaire measured the respondents’ attitudes to which types of business events they would require and support their feelings on the brand identity of the city as well as the communication medium they would like to receive communication through. The findings of this study indicate that residents of Nelson Mandela Bay are open to the use of business events as the main driver in terms of business event attendance and support. Furthermore, the residents have made it clear they will support exhibitions, conventions and tradeshows. Facebook and local radio are identified as being the preferred communication method for hearing about events.

A lot of SMME development initiatives have been subsidised from the funds accumulated from taxpayers. In the promotion of sustainability and growth of SMMEs within developing countries particularly within the BRICS, South Africa is lagging despite its efforts over the past 17 years. According to STATS SA, SA’s unemployment rate for 2011 was between 24-36% and economic growth was 3.1%, the Eastern Cape Province is the poorest province within SA and therefore residence within the province is looking at start-up businesses to better their economic situation. The NMBM economic growth and employment is driven largely by its Integrated Development Plan (IDP) 2013/2014. Aims and objectives:To develop a supply chain management policy that addresses the challenges faced by infrastructure officials, supply chain management practitioners and ward councillors with regards to SMME engagement; and, Investigating the strengths, weaknesses and effectiveness of the current supply chain management policy employed within Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality with regards to SMME engagement. Research methodology: A questionnaire was used in this study to conduct quantitative research; the questionnaire was also used as a data collection tool. Valuable information was gathered from SMMEs residing in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipal area who operate in the civil engineering field. These SMMEs formed the core research sample. Results: The findings suggest that the current supply chain management (SCM) policy of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) does not adequately address the challenges encountered by SMMEs. This suggests the SCM policy is inadequate and the policy must be amended to address its short falls:There is a need for a contractor development programme in the NMBM to assist the Potentially Emerging (PE) contractors within its boundaries;The NMBM is regulating the SMME market for competitiveness to some extent with its SCM policy;Even though the market is being regulated for competitiveness, it is not regulated with regards to new entries into the market; There is a need for the NMBM to provide business development services to SMME’s within its boundaries; The majority of SMME’s believed that there is no gender discrimination within the banking sector;The NMBM is an efficient government institution when it comes to settling their debt in a timely manner;The NMBM must appoint a committee to address the problems faced by SMME’s within its boundaries;South Africa’s National Credit Act (NCA) prevents SMME’s from acquiring an uncontrollable amount of debt. Conclusion: SMME’s within the NMBM enjoy a healthy credit record; these SMME’s also pay their suppliers in a timely fashion. Employees of these SMME’s are adequately compensated for their services. Some SMME’s service the equipment regularly and some do not. Some SMME’s are able to cover their overheads from the projects they undertake and some are not. SMME’s residing in the NMBM have experienced a growth in their business over the last financial year, even though they have not received substantial work over this period. The quality of the end product produced by some SMME’s meets the standard required by the NMBM. Recommendations: To address the development needs of the SMME’s the SCM policy needs to be amended to provide business development services and off-the-job training. To address the access to finance needs of the SMME’s the SCM policy needs to be amended to assist SMME’s in acquiring start-up capital, getting a reduced interest rate and creating work opportunities through micro-financing.

Purpose of this treatise: The aim of this treatise is to identify the challenges facing emerging entrepreneurs in accessing funding for property development initiatives which results in high levels of declined loans thereby limiting participation in the property market as well as the interventions necessary to improve access to finance. Design / methodology / approach: The questionnaires were emailed to funding institutions and emerging property developers. The questionnaire investigates the respondents‟ perception of importance and evidence of questions on property development, finance and managerial skills drawn from the literature. Findings: The findings of this study are consistent with and support the findings of previous local and international literature on constraints that SME‟s have in accessing finance for various initiatives. The findings indicate that the emerging property developers in South Africa are characterised by insufficient number in representation in the property sector, high risk averse financial institutions that requires collateral to lend. The findings of the study indicate that broader and bolder initiatives aimed at improving the emerging property developer's representation in the market needs a holistic and collaborative approach from the various institutions to aide these entrepreneurs. Value of paper: The research is of importance to all stakeholders involved in the property sector, financial institutions and economic development of the SME sector. The results of the study will contribute to the understanding of the current financing limitations facing SMEs and will assist funding institutions to better understand the role and importance of effective collaboration in improving access to finance to emerging property developers.