Spotlight falls on role of cooperatives
Zulu said the government would engage the department of higher education to set up a cooperative college so that people were trained in that area. She added that a similar model was already operational in Swaziland.
MBOMBELA – The role played by co-operatives in economic development was the language of the day when the Department of Economic Development and Tourism celebrated International Cooperatives Day on Friday.
Cooperatives from across the nine provinces, and those aspiring to establish their own, shared ideas on how the sector could be grown to facilitate economic and social inclusion.
The minister for small business development, Ms Lindiwe Zulu, was the keynote speaker at the event. Zulu said the government had a responsibility to support cooperatives in order for them to produce good products.
“We are hoping to open a market for cooperatives and the good part is that co-operatives open a market for international trade,” she said.
Although she was concerned that cooperative groups were plagued by infighting which could hamper their growth, the minister also said they had the potential to drive economic growth and industrialisation in the SADC region and also in the international arena.
According to Zulu, the government was also engaging role players and MECs for economic development in other SADC regions in order to open access to regional businesses.
“This will help us to be able to trade with our member states in the region and grow our economy in order to alleviate poverty and enhance the standard and quality of life of the people of Southern Africa,” she said.
Zulu said the government would engage the department of higher education to set up a cooperative college so that people were trained in that area. She added that a similar model was already operational in Swaziland.
One of the exhibitors on the day, Ms Purity Shabalala from Mkhonto, said the day afforded her an opportunity to showcase her business.
“This platform also plays a big role because we meet new people who we can do business with in future,” she said. The event was also attended by ministers and MECs from Zimbabwe, Lesotho and other provinces in the country.
Zimbabwe’s former minister for small and medium enterprises development, Ms Sithembiso Nyoni, said it was unfortunate that SMMEs and cooperatives were not taken seriously in Africa. She added that Africa should find an alternative route to grow its economy.
“Cooperatives contribute a lot to the government fiscal and are a vehicle to create interdependence among starting entrepreneurs,” she said.
Nyoni also said that in Zimbabwe, cooperatives had become an important component in economic development.
Local MEC for finance, economic development and tourism, Mr Eric Kholwane, said government needed to transform the way it did business with people at grass-roots level so that it was not perceived as an elite among its people.
“The government is prioritising SMMEs in order to develop them as economic role players,” Kholwane said.
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