Local Government and the SMME (Small Medium and Micro-Enterprise) Economy in South Africa

bibliographic database
Line

Periodical article

Title:	Local Government and the SMME (Small Medium and Micro-Enterprise) Economy in South Africa
Author:	Rogerson, Christian M.
Year:	1997
Periodical:	Africa Insight
Volume:	27
Issue:	1
Pages:	63-72
Language:	English
Geographic term:	South Africa
Subjects:	small enterprises local government Politics and Government Economics and Trade Development and Technology
Abstract:	Of the priorities identified for postapartheid reconstruction in South Africa, one of the most significant is the building of a new economic order that reverses past economic distortions. One step towards a new economic order is the commitment to uplifting the role of small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) in the South African economy. This paper first provides an overview of the existing policy climate relating to SMMEs and their development in Gauteng province, the economic heartland of South Africa. Then it presents the results of a set of detailed interviews conducted during the period June/August 1996 with a range of SMMEs in three different areas of the Witwatersrand (Soweto, Boksburg and Strijdom Park). Areas of concern in these interviews related to local government support for SMME development. One striking finding which cut across the case study areas and across both white and black entrepreneurs was the high level of uncertainty or ignorance as to which was their responsible local government authority. Ref.