<p>This thesis explored the impact that Sectoral Determination 1: Contract Cleaning Sector, South Africa had on the growth of small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) in the sector. It critically examined the prevailing perception in industry, that labour legislation has a negative impact on the growth of SMMEs, and, evaluates the South African government's response to this perception.</p>

<p>This thesis explored the impact that Sectoral Determination 1: Contract Cleaning Sector, South Africa had on the growth of small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) in the sector. It critically examined the prevailing perception in industry, that labour legislation has a negative impact on the growth of SMMEs, and, evaluates the South African government's response to this perception.</p>

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Technology: Internal Auditing in the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology / South African Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) play an important role in the stimulation of the national economy. However, according to previous research studies, these business entities have one of the worst sustainability rates in the world as approximately 80% of South African SMMEs tend to fail after being in operation for only three years. Taking the weak sustainability rate of these business entities into account, further studies suggest that South African SMMEs operate in a harsh economic environment, which, in turn, creates a breeding ground for risks to realise in, including that of occupational fraud risk. According to scholarly literature, the occurrence of occupational fraud risk is believed to stem from the utilisation of inadequate and/or ineffective internal control activities – South African SMMEs, in general, are believed to make use of inadequate and/or ineffective internal control activities. For this research study, focus was placed on investigating the effectiveness of internal control activities used within South African fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) SMMEs to combat occupational fraud risk. This was achieved by conducting a literature review (see Chapter 2) to assist in the development of a survey to, in turn, conduct empirical research by collecting quantitative data from respondents (see Chapter 3). All relevant quantitative data gleaned were analysed using both descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (see Chapter 4). Based on the analysed data, it was found that although implemented internal control activities in sampled South African FMCG SMMEs were customised, a few internal control activities assisted in the combating of occupational fraud risk while the bulk of internal control activities did not assist in combating occupational fraud risk. Stemming from the study conducted, the inference was made that the occurrence (realisation) of occupational fraud risk may be exacerbated by the implemented internal control activities in South African FMCG SMMEs due to their ineffectiveness.

Thesis (MBA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2010 / Financial Management is one of the critical principles in the business enviromnent. This study was conducted to assess the impact of the use of financial statement by SMMEs on to the success of their businesses. ln Chapter one of the study, the researcher gives the background to the research problem. The objectives of the study are also discussed. The research questions are highlighted and the key concepts that are used in the study and defined. The researcher gave the fonnat of the study and concluded the chapter with summary chapter. Chapter two focused on the review of related literature where different sources who explained about the financial management in SMMEs were consulted. The research objectives were restated and intensely discussed. The researcher outlined the challenges he encountered during the research process. The chapter was concluded with a summary chapter. Chapter three discussed the research design and methodology. The rationale for the study was explained in this chapter. The research design, types of research, target population, sampling and the research instruments were all explained in this chapter. The questionnaire construction and questionnaire items were also outlined. The research process was explained in full and the chapter was concluded with a summary. Chapter four discussed the data analysis, where the differences between qualitative and quantitative data analysis were discussed. Findings from other documents were also discussed. The chapter was concluded with a summary. Chapter five summarized all the chapters by the giving conclusion and recommendations.

Dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Technology: Business Administration in Entrepreneurship in the Faculty of Business at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology 2013 / Tourism is a fast growing industry and has the potential for poverty alleviation for rural persons. Butha-Buthe, being in a rural area of Lesotho, has magnificent scenery of mountains, attractions to be visited, and adventure activities to be done. However, tourism in Butha-Buthe is under-developed, and it is very important to identify tourism’s potential in this area and explore how SMMEs could contribute in the development of tourism. Therefore the objective of this study is to examine the economic role of small, medium and micro enterprises in the development of tourism in Butha-Buthe. Challenges faced by the SMMEs include lack of resources such as poor infrastructure poor roads, transportation, and a lack of network-communication. Other challenges would be poor business skills in regards to employment and management which leads to business failure. To accomplish the study objective, questionnaires were distributed to local entrepreneurs in Butha-Buthe, local communities, local government and other stake-holders in the district. In addition, a mixed method of research was carefully and logically planned and then implemented. A survey questionnaire was used to obtain the views of the different stakeholders. The questionnaires were collected and data analysed which allowed the researcher to draw conclusions and propose a range of recommendations based on the findings, to assist in the development of tourism in Butha-Buthe. The findings revealed that there is huge potential of tourism development in Butha-Buthe through the SMME sector, but that there are still challenges faced by SMMEs in this district, despite the economic contribution they make. However, through the support of the government and private sectors these challenges should be dealt with.

This study comprised an information audit of certain micro enterprises of Umkhanyakude District Municipality in northern KwaZulu-Natal. The purpose of this study was to investigate the information needs, information resources available and the information gaps that exist in these enterprises. The Umkhanyakude District Municipality consists of five local municipalities, but this study focused mainly on two, Jozini and Mtubatuba, because of their large number of local economic activities compared with the other local municipalities. The study primarily used questionnaires to collect data. These questionnaires were administered in the two municipalities identified. The results of the study revealed that technical information relating to business and financial management were the highest ranking information needs indicated by the sampled enterprises. Legal and business management information was the second most-needed information for these enterprises. The study also revealed a correlation between the academic level of the entrepreneurs, the type of business that the entrepreneurs operate and the kind of information they needed. The information resources that these enterprises had and used included newspapers, business magazines, market research documents and government documents. Based on the responses of the respondents, a gap was identified. This includes the lack of relevant sources of information that meet the respondents' information needs. This study also revealed that there are a number of institutions that provide information for these enterprises, such as community libraries, government information centres, bookshops, government offices and so on. Although these information resource institutions exist within the district municipality, these enterprises also have other information needs. This therefore led the researcher to conclude that these information resource structures are not providing their services according to the needs of the community at large. Based on the identified gaps the researcher recommends a participatory proactive approach. This approach uses participatory development communication platforms for the district municipality, the information resource institutions and local enterprises. The district municipality needs to have a platform which will identify information needs, gaps and pportunities for local enterprises. The information resource institutions need to provide platforms where they can assess the information needs of their customers and also have a customer management feedback system where they can assess whether they are responding to the customer needs. Finally, the micro enterprises need to use existing platforms to make the municipality and information resource institutions aware of their information needs. These platforms could include local and presidential izimbizo where the government comes to the people to address their concerns and issues. The approach recommended by this study is part of a development communication approach where participatory two-way communication platforms are used to bring about development. Copyright / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Information Science / unrestricted

Thesis (M.Dev. (Planning and Management)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / Unemployment in South Africa has prompted the government to shift focus in terms of employment creation resulting in encouraging citizens to become entrepreneurs. This took effect after 1994 and small, medium, and micro enterprises (SMMEs) have since been the important drivers of the economy. They have provided jobs to many unemployed people and reduced poverty in many communities. Despite their importance, these enterprises encounter challenges that threaten their sustainability and growth. The purpose of the study was to investigate the internal and external factors affecting SMMEs. To get a clear understanding of the challenges confronting managers of SMMEs in Lepelle Nkumpi Municipality (LNM), a comprehensive investigation of this problem was conducted through a literature review. The study adopted a mixed method approach, where the researcher used both qualitative and quantitative methods to elicit information from the participants. The study also adopted the interpretivism and positivism paradigms. Data were collected through the usage of structured questionnaires and semi-structured interviews from the respondents who were selected purposively. Analysis of quantitative data was done through SPSS and presented in tables, graphs, and pie charts. For qualitative data, thematic analysis was used. The findings confirmed what was reviewed in the literature, namely, that managers of SMMEs encounter operational difficulties; and inaccessibility of funding is a major challenge. The study revealed that 78% of the respondents used personal savings and some borrowed from friends and family, whilst only 22% received funding as a form of government grants and bank loans. To confront the challenges of funding, government and parastatals should ensure that SMMEs receive funding in an impartial manner; and government should also serve as collateral for SMMEs with financial institutions in cases where government could not offer funding since lack of collateral proved to be a blockade for SMMEs. Chapter 5 of this research report provides a conclusion and recommendations arising from the data collection on the improvement and accelerated support to ensure the sustainability and growth of SMMEs.

Revenue losses due to tax non-compliance pose a substantial risk for all governments, including the South African government. As part of its risk management system, the South African Revenue Service has identified the small, medium and micro enterprise sector as one of the seven high-risk areas and indicated that non-compliance in this sector remains high. The first focus area of any tax compliance risk management system is to ensure registration for the relevant taxes payable. The objective of this study was to establish whether any demographic factors could be used to select small businesses to investigate whether they are meeting their registration compliance requirements for income tax, Value-Added tax as well as the employee related taxes. In order to achieve the research objectives of the study, two sequential research methods were applied. During the first phase of the research, a literature review was conducted to develop a heuristic model consisting of two levels. The first level described the factors that could influence the tax compliance behaviour of a small business. The second level of the heuristic model describes the different taxes a small business could be liable for and when it must register for each of those taxes. During the second phase, the variables influencing registration compliance were statistically analysed for each of the taxes to determine if they significantly influence the compliance status. The study found that several factors have an impact on the registration compliance of small businesses. The demographic factors were analysed separately for each of the three different tax groups used in the study. The results indicate that in the majority of cases all three tax groups share the same demographic factors that would either have a positive or negative impact on the compliance of the entity. Profiles for the most compliant business type (per tax type) and the least compliant business type (per tax type) were compiled. The results of the study can be used by the South African Revenue Service to target their compliance and information actions to help improve registration compliance by small businesses. / Taxation / M. Com. (Accounting)

Revenue losses due to tax non-compliance pose a substantial risk for all governments, including the South African government. As part of its risk management system, the South African Revenue Service has identified the small, medium and micro enterprise sector as one of the seven high-risk areas and indicated that non-compliance in this sector remains high. The first focus area of any tax compliance risk management system is to ensure registration for the relevant taxes payable. The objective of this study was to establish whether any demographic factors could be used to select small businesses to investigate whether they are meeting their registration compliance requirements for income tax, Value-Added tax as well as the employee related taxes. In order to achieve the research objectives of the study, two sequential research methods were applied. During the first phase of the research, a literature review was conducted to develop a heuristic model consisting of two levels. The first level described the factors that could influence the tax compliance behaviour of a small business. The second level of the heuristic model describes the different taxes a small business could be liable for and when it must register for each of those taxes. During the second phase, the variables influencing registration compliance were statistically analysed for each of the taxes to determine if they significantly influence the compliance status. The study found that several factors have an impact on the registration compliance of small businesses. The demographic factors were analysed separately for each of the three different tax groups used in the study. The results indicate that in the majority of cases all three tax groups share the same demographic factors that would either have a positive or negative impact on the compliance of the entity. Profiles for the most compliant business type (per tax type) and the least compliant business type (per tax type) were compiled. The results of the study can be used by the South African Revenue Service to target their compliance and information actions to help improve registration compliance by small businesses. / Taxation / M. Com. (Accounting)

Dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the MTech: Internal Auditing In the Faculty of Business at the CAPE PENINSULA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, 2010 / The concept of Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) was created and implemented by the South African Government in an attempt to improve the economy of South Africa, reducing the unemployment rate and eliminating poverty. As a basic objective, SMMEs strive toward sustainability, however in recent years sustainability is at an all time low as substantial a number of these businesses fail to become viable entities. Popular literature show that Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) retail SMMEs make ineffective use of their accounting resources, resulting in them making critical business decisions without understanding and interpreting their financial performance or financial positions. These decisions have a ‘toxic’ affect on their business sustainability and as a result, it is perceived that these SMMEs make inefficient use of financial performance measures. The key objective of this research is to establish what financial performance measures sourced from accounting resources are regarded as being critical for the sustainability of FMCG retail SMMEs during the current dispensation of an economic depression in South Africa. To achieve the above dispensation, applied research will be used using ‘action research’ as the primary research paradigm supported by questionnaires for the purpose of data analysis, results of which were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Recommendations culminate from the research to mitigate the research problem.