11 Feb 2025

 Minister of Trade and Entrepreneurship, Mr Tiroeaone Ntsima, has confirmed that SPEDU will remain in its present form amid a wave of proposed mergers of other State Owned Enterprises.

Mr Ntsima said this during a meeting with SPEDU officials and its clients.

Mr Ntsima explained that the strategic decision was to allow SPEDU to continue to diversify and revitalise the economy for growth and stability. He said this would continue to enable and enhance creation of sustainable job opportunities in the Selebi Phikwe region.

“The decision is to allow SPEDU to continue its mandate of job creation, economic diversification and revitalisation particularly in the unfavourable effects, which  came along due to the closure of the BCL mine among other factors,” he said.

Mr Ntsima highlighted that SPEDU played a pivotal role effort to assist in the establishment of various business entities, job creation, and attracting new investors.

He said the rationalisation exercise that was put in place led to the suspension of some activities within the SPEDU which, he said, crippled the some of the daily business of the entity.

Mr Ntsima shared that currently the government is on an exercise to re-tool SPEDU, and the exercise will include hiring a chief executive officer.

He said the decision to review acts of SOE is to ensure that each operates under specific legal framework tailored to its unique mandate, thereby minimising conflict of interests, enhance accountability, transparency, effective customer service and good governance.

Currently SPEDU has 179 projects of which 152 are privately owned, five are government funded and 21 are community based. The projects are in varying stages of implementation.
The projects’ total value is P2.5 billion, and have created 7 185 jobs. ENDS