Seda to give guidance and direction to SMMEs
The new Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) manager Dorothy Davids is hoping to develop small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) by giving them access to finance and markets and ensure continuous business development and sustainability.
Davids said this could be achieved through stakeholder partnerships which would translate into consistent earnings and ultimately better lives.
She became a Seda branch manager in 2009, having been an assistant director in the department of housing, as a municipal manager in the Northern Cape and at a policy and planning unit in the department of education.
She was born in De Aar and has qualifications in social sciences, education, project management and policy development and planning.
She said the challenges faced by SMMEs was a lack of basic skills to run enterprises, financial management skills and a clear vision for the enterprise.
She said government had moved many barriers to enable entrepreneurs to trade.
More could be done in the procurement of services. Seda had a compliance factor of Standard Bidding Document (SBD) forms that must be submitted at every opportunity for the entrepreneurs to quote.
Seda assisted SMMEs to develop and diagnose their operations and finances by conducting assessments on operations, finances and softer business skills through its business diagnostic tools, Davids said.
Davids believed SMMEs should claim and own the space as they form a critical part of the backbone of the economy.
“To the SMME community of both Chris Hani and Joe Gqabi and all those who play a critical role in the SMME ecosystem, let us join hands and grow the economy.”