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17 APRIL 2009

Local government is very critical to anything that government is embarking on. This was said by the Minister of Trade and Industry (the dti), Mandisi Mpahlwa. He was speaking at the official launch of the ninth Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) district office in the Eastern Cape. The event took place on Friday, 17 April 2009, at Mount Ayliff, in the Alfred Nzo District Municipality.

Minister Mpahlwa said it is important to strengthen local government as it is the backbone of government’s delivery.

“Even the strategies and policies that are developed at national level will find expression at local government. So it becomes very important to us to strengthen local government so that it is able to deliver. Everything for it to be really effective it needs to have the participation of local government,” said Mpahlwa. He said that if municipalities are weak it will be difficult for Small, Medium Micro-Economic (SMME’s) to develop.

The Minister also praised the Alfred Nzo District Municipality for making the building available for Seda. The office which is a one stop service aims to provide the surrounding communities with business opportunities and linkages for small enterprises, and establish partnerships in small enterprise development and support.

The following services will be rendered:
* Business registration
* Business planning
* Access to markets
* Access to financial support
* Support of co-operatives
* Training and mentoring
* Access to technology.

As part of the day’s programme, the Alfred Nzo District Municipality and Seda jointly hosted a business summit. The summit focused on promoting business awareness within the municipality, broaden the skills base and build capacity of the business community.

Speaking at the summit, the newly appointed Seda CEO, Ms Hlonela Lupuwana emphasised the importance of strengthening the relationship between Seda and the municipalities. Lupuwana said this will go a long in developing and nurturing small enterprises.

She mentioned that her priority as the CEO will mainly focus on service delivery.

Enquiries:
Sidwell Medupe
Cell: 073 522 6801

Tsholofelo Kgole
Cell: 082 345 4823

Issued by: Department of Trade and Industry
17 April 2009