Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698142184074.pdf (South Africa)
PRESENTATION TO THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES BY THE MEC FOR FINANCE, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM, MR PS NGOMANE, MPL, DURING A VIRTUAL SITTING TO TABLE PROVINCIAL PLANS TO MITIGATE THE IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Tuesday, 01 September 2020 1 SALUTATIONS • Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), Honourable Masondo; • Deputy Chairperson of the NCOP, Honourable Lucas; • House Chairperson on Committees and Oversight, Honourable Nyambi; • Small Business Development Minister, Honourable Ntshavheni; 2 SALUTATIONS/2 • Honourable Members of the NCOP and Special delegates; • Provincial MECs responsible for small business development; • Representative of SALGA; • Members of the Media; • Ladies and gentlemen; • San’bonani!
3 INTRODUCTION • Thank you very much for inviting our Province, Mpumalanga, to present our Mitigation Plans in supporting our small businesses which have been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

• We all agree that this all-important sector of any economy, was also not spared by the pandemic; hence it is essential that we must devise means to cushion them.
4 INTRODUCTION/2 • If small businesses – including informal traders – are left to perish, so will be our economy, because this sector is the backbone of our economy.

• Undoubtedly, no economy will thrive without small businesses, as they are the main contributor to economic growth.
• Although we rely largely on national Relief Schemes, as the Province of Mpumalanga, we have also developed a Plan to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on our small businesses: 5 PROVINCIAL COVID-19 RELIEF FUNDING • In an effort to mitigate the effect of drought on the livelihood of our people, including in the agriculture sector, we have set aside an amount of R12.1 million for drought relief to support the agricultural sector.
• We have also allocated R32 million for the procurement of 40 000 relief food parcels that are being distributed to distressed households due to COVID-19.

6 PROVINCIAL COVID-19 RELIEF FUNDING • Our small businesses have benefitted in this regard, as the food parcels were procured from them.
• Small businesses have also benefitted from the R182.7 million set aside for the provision of water tanks in communities and schools around the Province, given that they were afforded an opportunity to be service providers in this regard.
7 COVID-19 SHORT TERM INTERVENTIONS 8 COVID-19 PROVINCIAL RELIEF SCHEME We have also planned to provide funding to support small businesses in the informal sector:  This will be done in the form of Food Vouchers; and  Business financial support  Vouchers will be disbursed to self-employed and informal traders to purchase food parcels.
 300 small businesses will benefit from this relief scheme 9 COVID-19 PROVINCIAL RELIEF SCHEME  Financial support will target businesses dealing in:  Protective clothing and sanitisers to pay for: Tools for ease of doing business (like instant payment machines or speed points); Rent and electricity costs; 10 COVID-19 SHORT TERM INTERVENTIONS MEGA: Provide loan repayment holiday of between 3-6 months to SMMEs; MEGA: Provide property lease payment holiday of 3-6 months; Assist SMMEs through business coaching to amend their business strategies to align with COVID-19 regulations; Negotiate with other credit providers to grant repayment holidays; Create more EPWP projects for short term employment opportunities for relief; 11 COVID-19 SHORT TERM INTERVENTIONS Established Support HelpLine for informal, small and medium enterprises; Identify SMMEs to produce cloth masks for the government; Identify local printers to print 3D Masks to be used by the Department of Health; Roll-out broadband connectivity to villages to enable the creation of hotspots that could be used by SMMEs: Engage big business to assist/support where necessary.
12 PROVINCIAL TOURISM RECOVERY PLAN Small businesses in tourism will also be supported, following the approval of the Provincial Tourism Recovery Plan (by the Executive Council) The Plan was developed in collaboration with the private sector Small businesses in all other sectors (like agriculture) will also be supported 13 NATIONAL COVID-19 RELIEF SCHEMES Small businesses also participated in National Relief Schemes administered by: Department of Small Business Development, including: Small Enterprise Finance Agency (SEFA); Small Enterprise Development Agency; Department of Tourism 14 END I thank you Chairperson!
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