Pretoria – The Department of Small Business Development will next week hold a nationwide stakeholder consultation process on certain legislation.
The consultation process seeks to solicit inputs from the department’s stakeholders on the review of the National Small Business Act, read with the National Small Business Amendment Act, well as engage stakeholders on the proposed national minimum wage.
The consultations are scheduled to take place from 25 January to 5 February 2016 covering all the nine provinces.
They will culminate into a national stakeholder indaba on the review of National Small Business Amendment Act and the national minimum wage, which is planned to take place in Gauteng.
The department said each consultation session will take place over two days. The first day will be dedicated to the review of the National Small Business Act and the second day will focus on the national minimum wage.
The Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces will have two sessions of two days each due to their sizes. The other provinces will have a single session.
“The review of the Act is aimed at ensuring that legislation relating to small businesses is developmental in its orientation and that it is in line with the current realities that confront small business.
“With regards to the proposed national minimum wage, the department seeks to give stakeholders an opportunity to make inputs on the proposed national minimum wage,” said Small Business Development spokesperson Cornelius Monama.
Stakeholders that are expected to attend the sessions include micro businesses, small businesses, cooperatives enterprises, small business chambers, cooperative associations, cooperative members, academia, non-governmental organisations, supporting cooperatives and small businesses and local and provincial government officials.
The stakeholder sessions in the Eastern Cape will be held on 25 and 26 January in East London at the Premier Hotel East London and in Umtata on 28 and 29 January at Hotel Savoy.
In KwaZulu-Natal sessions will be held in Durban at the Coastlands on the Ridge on 25 and 26 January and in Ladysmith at the Royal Hotel on 28 and 28 January.
The Northern Cape sessions will be held on 25 and 26 January in Kimberly at the Horseshoe Inn and in Upington at the Desert Palace Casino on 28 and 29 January.
In the North West, a session will be held in Rustenburg at Hunters Rest Resort on 28 and 29 January.
