20 May 2021

 Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development, Mr Tumiso Rakgare has urged the youth to repay their Youth Development Fund (YDF) loans in order to enable the ministry to fund other beneficiaries.

Minister Rakgare said this when touring YDF projects in Thamaga and Kumakwane on Thursday.

He said P104 million would go towards the YDF.

He urged youth businesses to comply with YDF terms of contracts as failure to repay deprived business opportunities for other youth businesses lined up for the same financial assistance from government.

Mr Rakgare also encouraged them to network and expose their businesses to a wider market which would help them move in the right direction. 

He applauded those businesses that were repaying their dues.

Deputy permanent secretary in the ministry, Mr Kgopotso Ramoroka announced that government was on the verge of rolling out the YDF with new revised terms. 

He said the programme stalled last year owing to financial challenges brought by the COVID-19 scourge. 

He urged young business people to liaise with youth officers so that their challenges could be identified at the earliest opportunity.

For their part, the youth decried the impact of COVID-19 on their businesses.

Mr Poloko Kowa, who deals with graphic designing in Thamaga, said the cost of running business was now high.

 He, however, said he intended to grow his business and add more services such as secretarial services and also widen the scope on his ICT service provision.

Another youth entrepreneur, Mr Bolokanang Kgofetsi, who was funded in 2019, said his signage and printing business was equally affected by the pandemic. 

He said although he had not reached his sales target, the business was doing well with government now part of his clientele. He also decried the high cost of material from manufacturers.

Another youngster, Mr Kaone Kowa, who supplies stock feed, animal feed, agricultural inputs and veterinary equipment, said he was funded in 2016 but became operational in 2017.

He said initially the business was doing well, but that due to several challenges among them COVID-19, there has been a drop in sales.

He said his ambition was to set up other branches in different locations around the country and repay the loan.

Mr Edwin Kabelo, funded in 2018 for small stock farming just outside Kumakwane, said he started with 50 goats but encountered challenges including stock feed and diseases.

 He explained that drought conditions have reversed his intentions of expanding the farm. ENDS