Parliament, Wednesday, 13 November 2019 – The Portfolio Committee on Small Business Development has welcomed presentations by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the German Cooperative and Raiffeisen Confederation (DGRV).

The IFC presented its report on the opportunity for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) and the DGRV presented on the development of cooperatives.

The IFC report, The Unseen Sector: A Report on the MSME Opportunity in South Africa, provides the size of the MSME sector, gives information about the availability of finance and illustrates key barriers MSMEs face to access finance, skills and markets. The IFC is a member of the World Bank.

The DGRV presentation stated that cooperatives are the only inclusive and viable institutions that allow communities to move out of indebtedness, generational poverty and youth helplessness. The DGRV is an association of German cooperative organisations.

The Chairperson of the committee, Ms Violet Siwela, said: “Both presentations provided the committee with much-needed insight and we take the IFC recommendations seriously. Our view is that small businesses should, indeed, be formalised so that they can benefit from opportunities provided by government and the private sector.”

Ms Siwela further said that the committee will liaise with the Department of Small Business Development to discuss which aspects of the presentations are implementable. She said that both presentations correctly observed that there is little growth in the small business and cooperatives sector in South Africa.


The committee is of the view that education has a key role in fostering understanding about the role of cooperatives and that this information should be made available to the public.

ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, MS VIOLET SIWELA.

For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact the committee’s Media Officer:

Name: Mr Justice Molafo
Tel: 021 403 8444
Cell: 081 424 7481
Email: jmolafo@parliament.gov.za