Skip to main content
SA Policy Space

Cooperative Development: Outcome-Based Redesign

Government CapacityProposedLong TermRaised 6× in committeeSmall Business Development

Theme: Cooperative economy

First raisedOct 2022Last discussedSept 2023No committee discussion in 12+ months6 meetings on the record ↓
Generate BriefCompareFeasibility Matrix

Reform at a glance

What changes
Cooperative Development: Outcome-Based Redesign
Responsible actor (recorded)
Department of Small Business Development
Recorded status
Proposed — editorial assessment.
Milestone described by this status
Status scope has not yet been independently documented; it may cover only part of this reform.
Next documented milestone
Next milestone not yet documented
Compare shortlist (0/3)
Back to ideas
On this page

Description

South Africa's cooperative development programme, administered by the DSBD through the Cooperatives Incentive Scheme (CIS) and SEDA incubation, has disbursed hundreds of millions in grants since the Cooperatives Act (2005) yet produced few sustainable, scaled cooperative enterprises — a DSBD evaluation found an 80-90% failure rate within five years. The proposed outcome-based redesign replaces upfront capital grants with patient development capital linked to revenue milestones, restricts support to cooperatives in sectors with demonstrated market demand (particularly construction, waste, and community services), and mandates technical skills development alongside financial support. The IDC's cooperative financing window provides a model for scaling to smaller entities under DSBD's remit.

Assessment

Growth Impact2/5
Feasibility2/5

Responsible: Department of Small Business Development

Feasibility Assessment

Government cooperative programmes have very poor track records globally and in SA. The ideological preference for cooperative development often overrides the economic evidence. A more outcome-based approach (MOU with German Raiffeisen Confederation in 2023 offers an interesting model) would be honest about failure rates and focus on survivors. Politically this requires courage to challenge ANC cooperative policy orthodoxy.

Evidence & Research

No linked research evidence yet. Coverage is incomplete.

Policy documents

No linked official-document evidence yet. Coverage is incomplete.

Get the Monday briefing by email

— A short weekly digest of what moved in SA policy.

Status History

tracked since Mar 2026
  1. Recorded as Proposed when status tracking began — held since at least Mar 2026.
    Mar 2026

Data as of 2026-10-10 · latest PMG meeting 2026-10-02