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The South African community-based small business cooperatives sector is expected to benefit from a recently signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the South African Department of Small Business Development and the German Co-operative Raiffeisen Confederation(DGRV).

The department briefed the Portfolio Committee on Business Development yesterday about the MOU, which aims to facilitate job creation through supporting and capacitating communities, officials and groups for the development of viable and sustainable co-operatives.

Briefing the committee, the department’s Director of Cooperatives Business Support, Mr Vukile Nkabinde, said the agreement aims to ensure a responsive local government that is effective, efficient and economically able to promote local economic development. It will do this through coordinated delivery of capacity building and technical and institutional support to municipalities and cooperatives. In this way, local economies will be supported and the scope for growth will increase.

The two parties also agreed to formalise their relationship and their respective responsibilities with regard to the support and capacitation of municipalities and cooperatives. 

The committee welcomed the initiative and hoped it would help revive many cooperatives that have been struggling to survive,especially those that received government funding. In welcoming the department’s presentation and the partnership with DGRV, the Chairperson of the committee,Ms Violet Siwela, said: “This is promising, our intention is to see the cooperatives surviving and lifting our people out of poverty and hunger.”

Issued by the Parliamentary Communication Services on behalf of the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Small Business Development, Ms Violet Siwela