Minister for Small Business Development, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, has handed over cheques worth R19 million to 45 small businesses in KwaZulu-Natal that were affected by floods earlier this year.

This is according to the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) Twitter account. The handover is part of a series of provincial roadshows in uMgungundlovu, eThekwini and Ugu districts by the Minister and Deputy Minister Sidumo Dlamini.

The roadshows, which started on Tuesday and are expected to end on Friday, are aimed at assisting business in the province that were hit hard by rampant looting during the riots in July 2021 and those that were affected by floods early this year.

This happened just as the small business sector was trying to recover from the devastating effects of COVID-19.

“Trying to uplift businesses and assist them to recover from the above challenges will be some of the issues that will be discussed when Ndabeni-Abrahams and Dlamini lead a series of provincial roadshows in the uMgungundlovu, eThekwini and Ugu districts from 25-28 October 2022.

“They will be joined by the department’s entities, the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (sefa) and the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda), as well as other key stakeholders,” the department said.

In addition, the Minister and Deputy Minister will be handing over equipment to identified beneficiaries from the Msunduzi, eThekwini and Ray Nkonyeni Local Municipalities alongside with the Mayors, Members of the Mayoral Committees (MMCs) responsible for Local Economic Development and Infrastructure and other SMME key stakeholders. 

Source: South African Government News Agency