Document: Business Bridge for Business Growth

This is a reported on an SBP survey which found that red tape had cost South African businesses R79 billion in 2004. Municipal regulations and charges, such as zoning, signage, and licensing, were among the types of red tape identified as particularly time consuming and troublesome. Against this background, we report on how the Middelburg Local Economic Development Forum and the Steve Tshwete Local Municipality, the local authority for Middelburg and its environs, have collaborated to address local red tape problems. It will be music to your ears to hear that turning on your radio is your latest strategic entrepreneurial tool. Building on the success of the Vuk’Uzenzele television series aimed at encouraging and empowering small business people, the Small Business Development Agency (SEDA) has collaborated with SABC Education to make a radio series for the same purpose. See page 8 for a list of the radio stations involved, and times to tune in.