DSBD & SEDFA 2025/26 Annual Performance Plans (with Deputy Minister)

Video The Portfolio Committee on Small Business Development convened to receive briefings from the Department of Small Business Development and the newly established Small Enterprise Development Finance Agency on their 2025-2030 Strategic Plans and 2025-2026 Annual Performance Plans. The session aimed to assess the alignment of these plans with national priorities for small enterprise development, evaluate key performance targets, and interrogate the readiness of both institutions to implement systemic reforms in support of inclusive economic growth. Committee Members welcomed the presentations but raised a number of critical issues concerning implementation, clarity, and institutional coordination. Members asked how the department would ensure the effective use of funds across programmes to strengthen strategic leadership, institutional capability, and service delivery. Concerns were raised about the operational model of the Small Enterprise Development Finance Agency, particularly concerning lessons learned from the limitations of its predecessors and how these would inform its performance going forward. Committee Members emphasised the need for SEDFA to establish itself as a central coordinator within the small enterprise development ecosystem and questioned how it would collaborate with credit providers, build intermediary capacity, manage digital platforms, and promote community-based intermediaries to enhance financial inclusion, particularly in underserved and rural areas. Committee Members urged the consolidation of small business functions under the DSBD to eliminate fragmentation and duplication of efforts across departments. They requested clarity on the department’s red tape reduction strategy and asked when the Office of the Small Enterprise Ombud Services ombud would be appointed. In relation to SEDFA’s capital strategy, Members sought detailed plans for leveraging both internal and external funding to address fiscal constraints while supporting early-stage and high-impact enterprises. Committee Members questioned the vague definition of “non-financial support” and called for clearer delineation between financial and non-financial interventions when setting performance targets. They asked when youth-focused incubators would be rolled out and whether partnerships existed with innovation centres to support product development. Concerns were also raised about weak infrastructure rollout, ineffective PPPs, and the removal of the digital strategy indicator from the strategic plan. Committee Members called for the findings of a R1 million research study to be shared with the Committee and criticised the limited reform of the department’s incubation and intermediary models. Concerns were raised about the department’s job creation targets, particularly the lack of disaggregated data and weak definitions of “jobs created” and “jobs sustained.” Broader structural challenges were flagged, including the burden of extended bargaining council agreements and Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment thresholds on small businesses. Committee Members argued for a simplified, tiered regulatory regime that would reduce barriers to formality and better reflect the operating conditions of small, medium, and micro enterprises. Further questions were asked about the implementation of the Business Licensing Bill, regulatory reform priorities, and outreach efforts to rural areas. Committee Members also sought greater oversight of intermediaries and more SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) targets to support clean audits and performance monitoring. In closing, Committee Members reaffirmed their support for small enterprise development but stressed the need for stronger coordination, accountability, and responsiveness across both the department and its implementing agency, the Small Enterprise Development and Finance Agency.