The members of the Portfolio Committee on Small Business Development welcomed a presentation on the 2019/20 third quarter performance report from the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (Sefa).
The agency exceeded targets on some of the areas of performance in the quarter under review. Members welcomed this as a move in the right direction and encouraged Sefa to develop a strategy to improve performance in those areas in which they are behind.
On loan approval, the target was to approve R279 million worth of loans to companies that met minimum requirements, but Sefa exceeded the target by R153 million, which placed performance level at 115%. On loan disbursement, the target was to disburse R238 million, but R394 million was disbursed, exceeding the target by R156 million, placing performance at 166%.
Sefa takes into account development impact when processing loans, in relation to youth, rural areas, women, black people, small businesses, township and people living with disabilities.
On rural businesses, the target was to disburse R134 worth of loans and it was exceeded by R20 million. On women-owned businesses, the target was R134 million, which was exceeded by R41,7 million. On black-owned businesses, the target was R200 million, which was exceeded by R103,7 million. The agency attributed the over-achievement on disbursement to approvals made under the Small Business Innovation Fund.
Ms Zoleka Capa, the Deputy Minister of the Department of Small Business Development, said that while the department has done well in disbursing loans to small businesses, there is still a need to focus more on cooperatives. The agency has supported a total of 60 cooperatives to the combined value of R4 944, 071 million by the end of quarter under review.
Justice Molafo
11 March 2020
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