February 2018 President vows to reduce SMME NEWS 3 regulatory barrier for SMMEs Marvellous Zondi ON Friday, 16 February 2018, South Africa’s newly sworn president, Cyril Ramaphosa, delivered his first State of the Nation Address in Parliament where he emphasised on the importance of SMMEs in the growth of our economy. Ramaphosa previously served as the Deputy President of the country and recently took over as president following the resignation of Jacob Zuma. In his address Ramaphosa lauded the work put in by small business owners and further stated that the government will intervene in ensuring that small businesses continue to thrive. “Ultimately, the growth of our economy will be sustained by small businesses, as is the case in many countries. It is our shared responsibility to grow this vital sector of the economy. We will work with our social partners to build a SOUTH African president Cyril Ramaphosa during the SONA small business support ecosystem that assists, nourishes and promotes entrepreneurs” said Ramaphosa before adding that the government will honour its undertaking to set aside at least 30 percent of public procurement to SMMEs, cooperatives and township and rural enterprises. “We will continue to invest in small business incubation. We encourage business to do the same. The establishment through the CEOs Initiative of a small business fund – which currently stands at R1.5 billion – is an outstanding example of the role that the private sector can play. Government is finalising a small business and innovation fund targeted at start-ups” The president also vowed to reduce the regulatory barriers for small businesses. Over the years the progress of small businesses has been hindered by regulations when trying to venture into other business spheres or access funding. “We will reduce the regulatory barriers for small businesses. We are also working to expand economic opportunities for people with disabilities. Among other things, the Small Enterprise Finance Agency – SEFA – has launched a scheme to develop and fund entrepreneurs with disabilities called the Amavulandlela Funding Scheme” further said Ramaphosa. The president also cited that the process of industrialisation must be underpinned by transformation. “Through measures like preferential procurement and the black industrialists programme, we are developing a new generation of black and women producers that are able to build enterprises of significant scale and capability. We will improve our capacity to support black professionals, deal decisively with companies that resist transformation, use competition policy to open markets up to new black entrants, and invest in the development of businesses in townships and rural areas.” Maphumulo Municipality brings light to small business MAPHUMULO Municipality Mayor, Cllr. Zibuyisile Khuzwayo-Dlamini, during the launch of the electrification projects. SMME Staff Reporter MAPHUMULO Local Municipality created a room for SMMEs under this municipality to thrive when they introduced four electrification projects within the precinct of businesses as well as residential areas. Maphumulo is home to mostly indigent people who rely on starting small businesses to make ends meet. Electricity will go a long way in ensuring that such businesses get a much needed facelift. Electricity was one of the first priorities on the Maphumulo Municipality Integrated Development Plan since the new council came into office. These electrification projects were introduced on 16 January 2018 by Her Worship the Mayor Zibuyisile Khuzwayo-Dlamini. These projects will cover Zagqayini, Shikishi, Wolongo, Mvozane, Mansomini, Snamfini and Mzulwini area. The aforementioned projects will go on for the duration of five months and will bring job opportunities as well as benefit local SMMEs in Maphumulo area. The Mayor also introduced the constructors to the community and urged the community to give them Introduction of additional payment method NOTICE 40 OF 2017 CIPC strives to improve customer service. As part of the process, CIPC will be introducing an additional payment method. In terms of this new payment method, customers will be allowed to used debit and credit cards directly after selecting a service on its website www.cicp. co.za. Formal introduction of the payment method and affected services will be communicated closer to the time of introduction. This payment method will be introduced gradually over the coming months by adding more and more electronic services onto this payment platform. The current payment platform, where customers make bulk deposits into a customer code and transactions being deducted as and when a service is used, will be phased out. The first service for which the payment solution will be full cooperation, time and patience needed in order to complete the project with ease. The projects have already started. implemented, is annual returns. Kindly refer to the next page for a brief step by step guide on how the solution will be implemented for annual returns. Benefits of new payment solution immediate; service or services, which has the additional benefit that a single payment may be made for multiple services; unallocated payments; Customers will pay the exact amount for specific transactions; As this payment method is phased for specific services, the payment method for the remaining services will continue as normal. Further enquiries, kindly log a ticket via www.cicp.co.za/enquires. Select the department of Finance and the category as Card Payments.