50 Years After the Women’s March and 30 Years of Constitutional Democracy: Assessing Progress in Women-Owned Small Businesses, Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment

Video The Portfolio Committee on Small Business Development met to assess progress in women’s economic empowerment, entrepreneurship and women-owned small businesses, 50 years after the 1956 Women’s March and during Women’s Month. The Committee received briefings from the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD), Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities (DWYPD) and Commission for Gender Equality (CGE). The DSBD outlined its gender-responsive programmes, including the Business Infrastructure Support Programme, Informal and Micro Enterprise Development Programme, Imbali for Her and Spaza Shop Fund. The DWYPD outlined measures to institutionalise women’s economic empowerment through gender-responsive planning, budgeting, procurement, skills development and monitoring. The CGE highlighted structural barriers affecting women, including limited access to finance, procurement, land, markets and infrastructure. Members questioned the low proportion of public procurement going to women-owned businesses, provincial disparities in access to programmes, support for women with disabilities, delays in processing Imbali for Her applications and funds under review. They sought disaggregated beneficiary data, including on GBV survivors, and questioned whether programmes were producing structural transformation rather than merely distributing funding. Members called for greater access for women to productive sectors and reliable markets, while highlighting successful women entrepreneurs as examples of effective government support. The DSBD said revised procurement legislation was in place and regulations were being developed with National Treasury. It clarified that 311 women-owned enterprises had benefited from the Small Business Exporter Development Programme and said the latest National Treasury data placed women’s share of procurement at just under 12%. The Department undertook to provide further gender- and province-disaggregated information. The Small Enterprise Development Funding Agency (SEDFA) reported that women received approximately 46% of its funding and that about R2.4 billion had been provided to women-owned businesses since its establishment. It said approximately 6 650 Imbali for Her applications were being verified, with initial approvals expected from late September. The CGE said it was strengthening enforcement against gender-related non-compliance and identified municipal regulations, development finance and major infrastructure sectors as areas of continued exclusion. In her closing response, the Minister called on Members to assist communities with funding information and explained the division of the R500 million Spaza Shop allocation between compliance support and stock funding. She said the Department was finalising the MSME plan to improve coordination. The Chairperson was disconnected from the virtual meeting due to connectivity issues, and Ms N Bilankulu (ANC) acted as Chairperson for the closing remarks. She thanked participants and confirmed that the Committee would conduct oversight visits to spaza shops and follow the funds to assess their impact.