The impact of impact of government support programmes for Small, Medium and Micro -Enterprises (SMMEs) on SMMEs in Brits

Abstract

South Africa is faced with high rate of unemployment, poverty, crime and HIV /AIDs. The government has attempted to address these challenges by promoting the development of Small Micro and Medium Enterprises (SMMEs). The state of SMMEs in South Africa continues to decline despite the enabling business environment for SMMES that has been created by government through legislation, policies and strategy development. The failure and closure of some SMMEs should be of major concern as the government might lose potentially viable enterprises that could possibly have been major economic contributors and players in the economy of South Africa. The development of SMMEs have been identified as key to the future central development of any economy in the world there it becomes imperative to propagate the sustainable development, survival and growth of SMMEs in South Africa. This study recommends that there is a need to engage research as a measure investigating the different aspects of the SMME phenomena so that informed decisions can be made by the policy makers and the other stakeholders. In that context this study was developed with the aim of promoting the relationship between the government support programmes for SMMEs and its beneficiaries. This will be achieved by primary assessing the extent of support that has been effectively received by the beneficiaries in comparison to the available support services, establishing the level of awareness and knowledge about the programmes the same beneficiaries. The study assesses the extent to which the beneficiaries are proactive in terms of seeking information in an attempt to encourage and promote a spirit of entrepreneurship as key attribute that SMMEs owner should have and practise. The study identified the nature of support received , level of awareness about the programmes, access to information and transparency as important factors determining the significance of the government support programmes for SMMEs.