Small businesses in the West Rand are to receive a boost from a government partnership with Harmony Goldmine which seeks to increase economic opportunities in the area.

The Gauteng provincial government and the Randfontein local municipality signed a Public Private Partnership (PPP) agreement with the mine last week and opened a satellite office that would offer financial support to Small Micro and Medium Enterprises (SMMEs).

The agreement states that the three organisations will offer continuous support to the identified SMMEs, including skills and business development centres and capital.

The satellite office consists of four staff members who will train 1000 entrepreneurs and mentor

between 20 to 50 emerging contractors per year.

The PPP is structured to benefit SMMEs who seek to access procurement opportunities from Harmony and the municipality. This will assist in the expansion of the economy in the area.

The provincial government's involvement is through the Gauteng Economic Propeller (GEP) which aims to give support to 30 000 SMMEs by 2014, also the year by which government hopes to halve poverty and unemployment.

This initiative will not be restricted to the West Rand, as similar satellite offices have been planned for this year.

"We will be opening other satellite offices in communities like Soweto, Brakpan, Springs and Soshanguve in our endeavour to bring our services closer to the communities that we aim to uplift

through our different interventions," GEP chief executive officer David Morobe said.

"Our aim is to ensure that GEP Business Relationship Managers deliver a reputable service in a conducive, accessible and customer friendly environment."

Harmony CEO Bernard Swanepoel said that the mine company sought to reach more entrepreneurs by giving them support.

"We would like to reach more new and potential entrepreneurs, and to invest more intensively in a vibrant and healthy SMME sector," said Mr Swanepoel.

GEP is trying to establish strategic partnerships and is already in talks with banks and other financial institutions in order to get them to finance small businesses in the province.

Small businesses employ about 55 percent of the country's labour.

Currently there are about two million small businesses in the country which make up 42 percent of the national wage bill.


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BuaNews (Tshwane)