KZN govt provides nearly R300 mln in business funding
The bakery, clothing and textile, furniture, paper & pulp, fertilizer and construction sectors benefited from the financial aid, with 1,021 out of 4,229 applications being approved for funding.
DURBAN, June 22 (ANA) – The KwaZulu-Natal provincial government has forked out just under R300 million (US$20.9 million) in funding to small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) across six industries in an effort to bolster the province’s economic recovery plan, Premier Sihle Zikalala said on Tuesday.
Speaking in Pietermaritzburg, he said the bakery, clothing and textile, furniture, paper & pulp, fertilizer and construction sectors benefited from the financial aid. Out of 4,229 applications for funding, 1,021 were approved to receive a share of the R299,157,000.
Zikalala said 42% of successful applications were from people under the age of 35, while 49.5% were from women.
During a visit to Duzi Timber and Board, one of the beneficiaries of what has been dubbed Operation Vula, Zikalala said the company was able to sustain production amid the Covid-19 pandemic and sustain no less than ten jobs.
Co-owner of Duzi Timber and Board Zinhle Mzolo told the African News Agency (ANA) in an interview that her business had received R178,000 in funding.
“We have already used our funds to purchase equipment. We started using the funds in March and we bought a compressing machine, an edging machine and an extractor, all of which are vital towards our business operation,” Mzolo said.
Over the next two weeks, various members of the provincial executive council will visit parts of KwaZulu-Natal to hand over equipment and instruments, Zikalala said.
“The disbursement of these SMME support grants from the Operation Vula Fund is set to give impetus to our economic recovery and transformation efforts as the province of KwaZulu-Natal,” he said.
“We believe these disbursements give a practical expression to our commitment to transform our economy so as to include the previously marginalised.”
He said the province had not awarded the funding simply because the businesses were black-owned, but rather because they each upheld a high standard of quality and offered good value for money.
“We wish to encourage the people of Mbali, Pietermaritzburg, and KwaZulu-Natal to embrace and support such local brands – let us all get in the habit of buying local and promoting local SMMEs to support job creation in our own province and country,” Zikalala added.
– African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Stella Mapenzauswa
