M.B.A. / Since the first democratic elections of April 1994, the government of South Africa has been grappling with a wide range of social and economic development issues. The development and promotion of small, medium and micro-enterprises (SMMEs) is one of these critical issues. This is seen as vital for job creation, income generation and the promotion of sustainable and equitable economic growth. It is the view of government that the SIVIME sector also deserves attention because it has been neglected in the past. It is also widely acknowledged that SMMEs play a vital role in absorbing labour, penetrating new markets and expanding the economy in creative and innovative ways. The stated general objective by the government was the need to create an enabling environment in which small businesses would flourish. There was an intensive process of consultations with key stakeholders on the SMME sector. This took the form of the 1994 White Paper (discussion paper) on Strategies for the Development of an Integrated Policy and Support Programme for Small, Medium and Micro-Enterprises in South Africa, the President's Conference on Small Business in 1995 and the Second National Conference on Small Business in 1997. The highlight of these efforts was the enabling of the institutional support framework via the National Small Business Act of 1996 which aimed at providing a supportive environment for small business development. Several institutions were created under this act at national, provincial and local levels with the following aims and objectives: To coordinate the overall national policy on small business development. To mobilize the maximum involvement by all stakeholders. To facilitate the provision of financial and non-financial support services. In general, to represent the interests of the SMME sector. The aim of this study was to investigate how effective the government policy on the development and promotion of small business has been. The focus was the Northern Province, one of the nine provinces in South Africa. The researcher was specifically interested in looking at the establishment of the institutional framework at provincial and local government level, whether the products developed for small business support have been well-marketed to the SMME sector and whether the small business sector was benefiting from these products. There were three main aspects to the conduct of the study. Government officials in the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in the Northern Province were interviewed. Institutions that have been set up to provide support services to small business were also visited and officials at these institutions were also interviewed. Further information was obtained from existing documentation at the DTI and from the institutions offering support services to small business. A survey of the SMME sector in the Northern Province was conducted. A designed questionnaire was presented to a representative sample of small businesses. The data obtained from interviews and existing documentation has been summarized descriptively. The data from the questionnaires has been analysed statistically. Graphical illustrations have been used to enhance the presentation. Conclusions, recommendations and some final reflections are also included.

M. Tech. Comparative Local Development / Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) play a critical role in the economic development. Indeed, SMMEs have been recognised as major sources of poverty reduction, employment creation and incomes. It is therefore not surprising that policy makers and researchers, particularly in developing countries have acknowledged SMMEs as an important topic in development policy. Despite their belated discovery by policy makers and their contribution to the economy, their growth remains constrained by a number of key constraints including access to finance. Access to finance has a significant impact on the development or failure of SMMEs. That is to say, finance has increasingly been recognised as a major obstacle in the development of SMMEs. Without finance, SMMEs may not able to develop and sustain their businesses through innovation, hiring of additional staff and the addition of more facilities. The SMMEs sector is known to be very diverse. Indeed, Studies point that there is no single definition of SMMEs, they are defined differently in different contexts and most of SMMEs in Africa operate in the informal sector. This situation has challenged policy makers, making difficult the development of one size fits all policies. The objective in this study is to examine the problem of finance in SMME development and promotion in Africa and more particularly in Gabon and South Africa. The study examined the existing literature on SMMEs in general and more particularly the problem of access to finance in SMME development. The study highlights that SMME's access to finance is constrained by factors such as a lack of information, high interest rates, financial sector policy distortion, the high risk of SMME operations, blacklisting of SMME owners and a lack of government support awareness. In addressing this problem, a number of policies have been developed and include the market developing policies, the market enabling policies and the market harnessing policies.

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Technology: Business Administration in Entrepreneurship in the Faculty of Business Administration : Entrepreneurship at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology / Africa is estimated to have more than 66% of the world’s natural resources, it is these natural resources that are converted into products that bring about the wealth the world has. Exploitation of these abundant resources has created numerous job opportunities worldwide, yet the continent continues to reel under extreme poverty. Millions of African children die each year due to undernourishment in a continent with virgin arable land which can produce enough food to feed the world. The African continent, the world’s second largest continent in size, can be easily classified as the intensive care unit. The continent houses 1.033 billion people which is about one sixth of the world’s population. An estimated 840 million people worldwide have no food to eat, and Africa houses 223 million of this foodless population. This means that, whilst Africa gives residence to one sixth (17%) of the world population, just over one quarter (26.4%) of the world’s starving population is in the second largest continent which has two thirds (67%) of the world’s wealth in mineral resources. One third of infant deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa are caused by hunger, with 23 million school children going to school hungry. Africa needs infrastructure and institutions to help the process of development and subsequent eradication of these high levels of poverty and illiteracy on the continent. Though Africa has more arable land that can be used, 45% of African households are affected by hunger. The IMF Chief Executive Officer recommended three critical areas that will influence the economic growth and development of Africa; "Build infrastructure, build institutions, and build people." The continent must improve governance, transparency and create sound economic frameworks for growth. Today, only one in five people in Africa find work in the formal sector because of the underdevelopment and lack of industries in a continent estimated to have more than 66% of the world’s natural resources. Entrepreneurship, the panacea for the African social and economic quagmire needs to take central stage in this rich continent inhabited by chronically poor people. African academics are challenged to come to the rescue since politicians have failed the continent. If it were possible, I would lock up the academics and politicians in one room and deny them food to eat and water to drink until they found an amicable solution to the misery bedevilling the world’s richest continent. Africa is characterized by high levels of political instability emanating largely from poverty and a highly illiterate populace, in a continent with a high growth rate - this is not positive news. The political unrest in Africa is largely due to chronic adjunct poverty caused by the absence of visionary leadership, and the post-colonial Africa is merely a change of hands with maintenance of status quo. At best the leadership is known for its geocentricism and self-preservation of the old boy scouts’ mentality where they protect each other whilst the fires of poverty consume and destroy the vestiges of the little that is left of African dignity. The birth rate on the continent is 38 per every 1000 and a death rate of 14 per every 1000. Even with such a relatively small population, the continent is not able to feed itself. The unemployment levels are disturbingly high in a continent with such high birth rates. Below standard education, and continued exploitation of natural resources by external investors are part of the norms the black race has to live with. If Asian countries without mineral wealth have turned the tide of poverty, why should Africa with all the resources continue in poverty? How long will Africa continue with leaders without direction? Is it not true that ‘where there is no vision the people perish?’ The study was conducted making a comparison of two African countries (Gabon and South Africa) to try to establish the relevance of the entrepreneurship policies and programs. The research findings point out a series of policies which are not supported by other factors in relation to the ability of citizens to benefit. It concludes that there is a greater need for other programs like higher levels of education, skills training and accessibility to business funding to enable the African countries to end chronic poverty.

The small, medium and micro-enterprise sector is recognised as being favourable to socioeconomic growth since SMMEs have capacity to generate jobs. SMMEs are particularly beneficial for previously disadvantaged communities, and it is particularly clear that SMMEs play a critical role in economic development. It is therefore important to encourage growth of this sector by introducing a favourable and a conducive environment for the sustainability of the SMMEs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of regulatory compliance on SMMEs in the Buffalo City municipal area in South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province. In other words, this study seeks to find out how SMMEs in the Buffalo City experience regulatory compliance. Exploratory quantitative and qualitative research methodologies were used in this study. In this instance structured questionnaires were used to collect data. In order to provide a precise presentation of information, face-to-face interviews with the SMME owners were conducted. The results of this study indicate that the regulatory environment within which the SMMEs operate is not a constraining one. Although the manual registering process is reported to take long, the electronic or online business registration is much quicker. Notwithstanding, the business registration agencies were reported not be too easily and readily available and accessible. In terms of labour regulations SMME owners and managers indicated that compliance with labour legislation in terms of health and safety was benefiting to their businesses as they learnt how to develop polices and plans. Although the regulatory environment of the SMMEs is not a constraining one, there are costs involved. For example the respondents indicated that the labour laws increased their operating costs. In accordance with labour legislation, employees are entitled to all kinds of paid leave such as annual leave, maternity leave and sometimes study leave; needless to say a right to strike. The labour law regulations were seen to be time consuming and presented an administrative burden for managers. With regards to tax regulations compliance, there was an indication that due to the extra efforts taken by SARS, it was easy to comply. The SMMEs were exposed to what is required in order to comply fully with tax laws. Some respondents mentioned that they lacked the facilities to deal with VAT issues. The study recommends that government should ensure that the registration costs of small businesses remain low and that the turnaround time for registration is shortened. The support structures which are to assist small businesses need to be mentioned in all the media for everyone to be aware of them including the rural areas. The government needs to educate SMME owners and managers on how labour laws can benefit small businesses. Also the business registration process should be streamlined and linked with the South African Revenue Services in order for a ‘one shop stop’, so to shorten the time during formalisation and registration processes. It is also recommended that the South African Revenue Services together with the government simplify the tax issues applying to SMMEs further more especially Value Added Tax which seems not to be easily understood. This will in turn assist SMME owners as they will know more about tax issues, they will also know more how to handle them which should in turn lower the costs of doing business.

published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

published_or_final_version / Politics and Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

South Africa is a country in a state of flux. It has many problems / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2008.

No description available.

Thesis (MTech (Business Administration))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2010 / It is an accepted fact that small businesses are the economic growth "engines" in developed countries. This reality is given as the main reason for the active involvement of local government, in promotion and development of small enterprises, with the purpose of reversing the trend of growing unemployment in South Africa (even with high economic growth rates) and reducing the high poverty index. Internationally, local municipalities have become primary players in supporting and promoting small business. Prior to 1994, local government in South Africa is perceived to have played a passive role in this field. This study aims to evaluate and critically analyse local government's involvement in the support and promotion of small enterprises on the Cape West Coast (Western Cape Province, South Africa) in order to stimulate greater government involvement in small enterprise development. The study follows a qualitative approach in the form of interviews with a sample comprising of emerging entrepreneurs in the fishing, tourism, engineering, mining and agricultural economic sectors. On the basis of the findings, specific recommendations are made for the promotion of small enterprises as a vehicle for reducing the level of poverty.