KwaZulu-Natal flood-affected small businesses receive R19 million

Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, the Minister for Small Business Development, has given R19 million in cheques to 45 small companies in KwaZulu-Natal that were affected by flooding earlier this year.

According to the Twitter account of the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD), this is the case. The handover is part of a series of provincial roadshows by Minister and Deputy Minister Sidumo Dlamini in the districts of uMgungundlovu, eThekwini, and Ugu.

The roadshows, which began on Tuesday and are scheduled to finish on Friday, are intended to aid businesses in the province that were severely damaged by widespread looting during the riots in July 2021 and by flooding earlier this year.

This occurred when the small business sector was attempting to recover from the catastrophic impact of COVID-19.

“Trying to uplift businesses and assist them to recover from the above challenges will be some of the issues that will be discussed when Ndabeni-Abrahams and Dlamini lead a series of provincial roadshows in the uMgungundlovu, eThekwini and Ugu districts from 25-28 October 2022.

“They will be joined by the department’s entities, the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (sefa) and the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda), as well as other key stakeholders,” the department said.

In addition, the Minister and Deputy Minister will present equipment to beneficiaries from the Msunduzi, eThekwini, and Ray Nkonyeni Local Municipalities, along with the Mayors, Members of the Mayoral Committees (MMCs) responsible for Local Economic Development and Infrastructure, and other SMME key stakeholders.