More Than 400,000 Informal Businesses Registered on DSBD Connect System
More Than 400,000 Informal Businesses Registered on DSBD Connect System. More than 400,000 informal and micro businesses have been captured on the Department of Small Business Development’s (DSBD) Connect System as South Africa continues its drive to register spaza shops and other small enterprises.
The update was provided by Inter-Ministerial Committee on Migration Chairperson and Minister of Justice Mmamoloko Kubayi during a media briefing on 13 July.
Kubayi said the registration of informal and micro businesses remains ongoing and that the number of registered businesses is expected to increase as the implementation plan progresses.
She said the DSBD, the South African Local Government Association (Salga) and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) are finalising the project’s implementation plan.
The DSBD Connect System is a digital platform developed to support the regulation of spaza shops while creating opportunities for small businesses to access funding and establish original equipment manufacturer (OEM) partnerships.
Kubayi also said the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (Natjoints) has requested access to the database. According to her, the DSBD is preparing the required information from the DSBD Connect System and the Innovation Portal data platforms before sharing it once the information has been cleansed and repackaged for transmission.
She added that the database will also incorporate information from other sources within the DSBD portfolio and partner organisations, including the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC), municipalities and Cogta.
Meanwhile, Kubayi said the Inter-Ministerial Committee’s Borderline workstream has completed an implementation plan for the Borderline Infrastructure programme.
The plan combines programme timelines, task allocations, phased implementation schedules, provincial cost estimates and a risk register into a single management framework. It also outlines responsibilities for the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, Defence Works Formation and the South African Army Engineer Corps over the next three financial years.
Kubayi said the Inter-Ministerial Committee will submit a detailed business case to the Minister of Finance to secure funding for the planned borderline infrastructure programme.
