24 Mar 2021

Local Entrepreneurship Authority (LEA) has started refurbishing its old factory shells last month to be used as offices and incubations centre.

Addressing a full council meeting on Monday, Southern District chairperson, Mr Thamiso Chabalala said the project was currently at 10 per cent and expected to be complete by July this year. 

He noted that the incubator was intended to support the manufacturing sector and encourage growth for incubated businesses.

“The purpose of the incubator will be to offer the manufacturing sector an opportunity for growth by providing interventions for incubated clients. Clients will also benefit from subsidised rental rates for their businesses. My office continues to engage with LEA and the private sector to extend the same service to other sub-council’s headquarters centres,” he said.

Furthermore, Mr Chabalala commended the LEA Kanye branch for providing capacity building opportunities to Small Micro Medium Enterprises (SMMEs) and enhancing such businesses to become more competitive in the market. 

He said of the more than 50 operating clients, 44 were within the small and medium category while the rest were micro. Additionally, he noted that there were also over 100 prospective clients who were being assisted with various interventions.

He noted that between April 2020 and January 2021, the LEA Kanye branch had submitted 61 business plans worth over P50 million to various financiers, which were expected to create over 100 jobs once financed.

The chairperson further noted that the branch had received a total of 956 applications for the Informal Sector Industry Support intended to help the informal sector recover from the COVID-19 effects, which he said were at various stages of processing.

During the first lockdown in April 2020, he said registration was carried out for the entire country, saying during the exercise a total of 909 registrations for the Southern region was received. 

He said the Kanye branch received 956 applications, which were at various stages of processing. This number was inclusive of applications from other branches.

However, Mr Chabalala underscored the need to provide adequate space for businesses to operate. 

He expressed concern over unutilised structures across the district despite an acute shortage of operation space for businesses.

“I recall that our ministry once directed us to make an inventory of all abandoned structures in the district for purposes of exploring opportunities for refurbishment and utilisation. I therefore want us to make a determination to retrieve such information and use it as our baseline for rationalisation and optimal use of available operational spaces,” he said.

He also emphasised the importance of regulating the use of open spaces to ensure proper management. ENDS