THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
QUESTION FOR WRITTEN REPLY
761. Mr. M G P Lekota (Cope) to ask the Minister of Trade and Industry:
Whether his department is training, promoting or involving the youth
in matters relating to (a)(i) broad-scale participation in small
business development and (ii) facilitating an understanding of
legislation related thereto, (b)(i) consumer and (ii) corporate
regulations, (c) incentive development, (d) industrial development and
(e) innovation; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
NW971E
(a)(i) The government has prioritized the development of young people
and has laid the basis for ensuring that they are fully integrated
into the mainstreamed economy and are capacitated in terms of
technical, management and entrepreneurial skills training and human
resource development. In this regard the Department of Trade and
Industry (dti) has established the Youth Directorate whose mandate is
to drive the development and growth of youth owned and managed
enterprises as well as promotes the economic empowerment of young
people in the South African economy.
The dti Youth Directorate has developed the Youth Enterprise
Development Strategy (YEDS), geared to promote youth owned and managed
enterprises that contributes to the growth of the countryâs GDP,
employment creation and poverty reduction. This strategy has
formulated various programmes and interventions aimed at empowering
young aspirant entrepreneurs economically.
In line with this strategy, the Youth Directorate has partnered with
the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) to train 120 young people
on deal origination and micro-finance. The next phase will focus on
recruitment of stakeholders such as commercial banks, NYDA provincial
offices and funding agencies to host and provide in-service training
for the young people who have been trained.
the dti has further partnered with the NYDA to establish 20 youth
Cooperatives that own Fish and Chips Co. franchise stores in the 20
priority townships in the Gauteng province. The project is being
funded through the Cooperative Incentive Scheme of the dti, with the
NYDA providing bridging funding. Sponsorships were also provided to
two young entrepreneurs to participate in the G20 Youth
Entrepreneurship Summit held in Mexico during June 2012.
The Small and Enterprise Development Agency (seda) has provided
business development support services to SMMEs including youth owned
enterprises across the country such as starting or running a business,
business planning and registrations, access to markets, small
enterprise training and mentorship and support through provision of
access to technology.
The sedaâs technology transfer intervention (TTF) focuses on
supporting small and micro enterprises particularly those operating in
the 2nd economy with a range of technology transfer services to enable
the enterprises access to technology, technical advice and support.
The total number of TTF supported enterprises in 2012/13 is 85 of
which 43 are women-owned. Although the numbers provided in most of
these areas are generic, about 70% of the enterprises supported
invariably constitute support to young people and particularly young
women.
the dti through the Cooperative Incentive Scheme (CIS) has also
provided grant funding to cooperatives with youth membership. During
the 2012/13, approximately 119 youth members have benefited from the
CIS scheme. Furthermore the dti has in the past three years
facilitated and supported the establishment of 113 youth cooperatives
thus benefitting about 678 youth beneficiaries with self-help
initiatives and provision of training in the area of understanding the
cooperatives business model and technical training.
In the area of Industrial development, the dti has formulated the
Sector Specific Youth Catalytic Project Initiative aimed at assisting
young entrepreneurs to leverage business opportunities offered by key
industrial sectors. In support of the National Skills Accord 69
unemployed graduates were placed in manufacturing enterprises to
improve their employability and enhance skills necessary for
enterprise developments. During the 2012/13 financial year 1 506
students and 1 135 researchers participated in the Technology and
Human Resources for Industry Programme (THRIP) to enhance
technological competencies of South Africans.
a (ii) The National Consumer Commission responsible for ensuring
consumer education for vulnerable consumers including youth consumers
developed a programme working with children of school going age called
âschool consumer clubsâ. The main objective behind these clubs is: to
educate learners about their rights as provided for in the Consumer
Protection Act No 68 of 2008. The intention is to roll the program out
of schools to ensure that as a country we cultivate future empowered
consumers who are able to deal with issues of unfair business
practices.
the dti has through the Taking the dti to the People and the Youth
Imbizos initiatives raised awareness among the youth with respect to
Companies Act, Cooperatives Development Act and Small Business Act.
The majority of people that participate in these initiatives are young
people. More than 2000 people are reached per year with these events.