Dealing with alcohol and drug abuse in the workplace is not easy. At the one extreme you might have a driver who drinks heavily on a particular occasion while on duty, and then drives and crashes a company vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. At the other extreme, you might have a clerk who… [Continue Reading]
Some 500 local suppliers in the Western Cape can now enlist on an integrated electronic procurement network, following the launch of the Western Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism’s (DEDAT) access to markets programme. Supply Chain Network, which uses an online system to connect buyers and sellers, has been appointed to manage the programme.… [Continue Reading]
Strand-based entrepreneur Stephen Manual has been able to increase his staff complement by employing local skilled workers at his panel-beating business after receiving R50 000 from the Western Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism’s (DEDAT) Enterprise Development Grant Fund (EDF). The EDF is an initiative of the department. The initiative’s aim is to support… [Continue Reading]
Business registration and basic support processes by government need to be sped up so that entrepreneurs have more time to grow their businesses. This was the call made by Solly Fourie, head of the Western Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism. Fourie says the recently-established Ministry for Small Business Development should work to address… [Continue Reading]
Information sharing and forging strategic partnerships are key to growing a business. So says Alana James, owner of communications company Gecko Connect, during a recent address at the Women Entrepreneurs on the Rise conference held by Old Mutual in Cape Town. James was one of the keynote speakers at the conference which was hosted in… [Continue Reading]
While the small business sector continues to show promising growth, more is needed from business to help create workable links with the government and other stakeholders. So said Alan Winde, Western Cape Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Tourism. He was addressing a number of small businesses, procurement professionals and government stakeholders during a breakfast… [Continue Reading]
South Africa’s furniture manufacturing industry received a boost with the launch of a quality testing centre in Cape Town recently. Fully-equipped with the latest manufacturing machinery and other technology, the centre is part of an initiative by the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) and FurnTech Manufacturing to improve the local furniture-making industry. Seda is a… [Continue Reading]
So impressed were they with local businesses that some of the 50 American business students and academics that recently toured a Cape Town township, vowed to return next year with the promise to help invest in those businesses. Accompanied by the University of Stellenbosch Business School’s Small Business Academy, they were part of a tour… [Continue Reading]
The inaugural Red Tape Reduction Awards brought to an end a month-long challenge by government employees to identify and solve problems involving over-bearing bureaucratic procedures. The ceremony, held in Cape Town last month, was attended by a number of public servants, many of whom took part in the competition. They were joined by aspiring entrepreneurs.… [Continue Reading]
When a lack of funds recently threatened to cripple a business trip to London, its organisers, business development organisation Silicon Cape, approached the Provincial Growth Fund for help. The fund, an initiative of the Western Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism (DEDAT), provides assistance to small businesses in need of finance. The fund is… [Continue Reading]
