Parliament, Thursday, 23 November 2023 - The Portfolio Committee on Small Business Development has concluded the process of public hearings on the National Small Enterprise Amendment (NSEA) Bill at the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality’s Boksburg Civic Centre in Gauteng.
The residents of Ekurhuleni had an opportunity to make oral submissions on the NSEA Bill after the committee conducted public hearings in 20 districts and in four metropolitan municipalities in the country.
The district municipalities were Limpopo’s Vhembe, Capricorn and Waterberg districts; Mpumalanga’s Ehlanzeni and Nkangala districts; the Northern Cape’s ZF Mgcawu, Pixley Ka Seme and Frances Baart districts; Free State’s Lejweleputswa and Fezile Dabi districts; Western Cape’s Overberg, Cape Winelands, Garden route, and Cape West Coast districts; Eastern Cape’s Buffalo City, OR Tambo and Alfred Nzo districts; KwaZulu-Natal’s uMgungundlovu and King Cetshwayo districts; North West’s Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati, Ngaka Modiri Molema and Bojanala Platinum districts and Gauteng’s West Rand District.
The metropolitan municipalities are Free State’s Mangaung, Western Cape’s City of Cape Town, KwaZulu-Natal’s eThekwini, as well as Gauteng’s City of Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni metropolitan municipalities.
The Bill received overwhelming support nationally and the residents of Ekurhuleni who made oral submissions said that they supported it because of the proposal to establish the Small Enterprise Development Finance Agency and the Office of the Small Enterprise Ombud Services.
Other participants in Ekurhuleni proposed that a new clause be inserted in the Bill to provide for mechanisms of dealing with the influx of tuck shops owned by foreign nationals in the townships.
The Committee Chairperson, Ms Violet Siwela, said: “As part of the last stage of public consultations, the committee will give a hearing to those whose written submissions indicated their interest in making oral presentations.”
Ms Siwela said that after it has considered all the inputs the committee will process the Bill clause-by-clause taking into account all oral, as well as written submissions. She said that the committee will compile a report that will be tabled in the National Assembly for its adoption.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, MS VIOLET SIWELA.
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Name: Mr Justice Molafo
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Email: jmolafo@parliament.gov.za
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