Baloyi was speaking on behalf of the executive mayor at the pop-up market exhibition held recently at Namakgale Crossing. The event was organised by MDM in conjunction with Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda). The exhibition aimed to expose small businesses to potential markets as the BaPhalaborwa Municipality prepares to host Marula Festival in the coming days.

Baloyi said a one-size-fits-all approach is not necessarily successful and a new approach needs to be adopted in order to properly assist small, medium, and micro enterprises (SMMEs). “We need to consider the size and specific needs of a business before we could even begin to allocate packages to assist businesses because all have different capabilities and needs,” which if overlooked, might render any assistance to them ineffective,” he said.

According to him, the security or stability of the business sector is centered on small businesses. “It is crucial to support our SMMEs if we want to boost local products,” he said. Meanwhile, several exhibitors with new products were not tested and needed to be formally approved to be used by consumers. One of the producers, Samuel Manabe from Ezikhaya farm at Shiluvane in the Tzaneen area, had a similar challenge. Most of his products, which include juice made from blended cucumber and moringa, beetroot, carrots, and several other fruits and vegetables, are faced with red tape to get his products tested.

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“On juice alone, we have more than seventeen new fruit juice blends that are still to be tested, but the payment and other processes that one has to go through to get products tested are a hindrance,” he said. According to him, these juices have no preservatives and therefore have a short shelf life. “We currently sell these products at the local informal market, but we’re in the process to take them to Letaba Fruit and Veg shop for wider market access,” he said. Another producer, Kgaugelo Ramaphoko from the Ramaphoko Group, producer of ‘Kasi sauce’ in Phalaborwa, has managed to get his products sold at OBC stores. “This is a delicious sauce, and people love it. All we need is a wider market such as Shoprite and other supermarkets,” he said.