Government could not take responsibility for radical economic transformation and small business development on its own, Small Business Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu asserted on Thursday.

Speaking at the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) 2014 Convention, she said all South Africans had to support government’s transformation agenda.

“Therefore, money must be given to small, medium-sized and microenterprises (SMMEs) and not only by government alone,” she commented.

Zulu stated that the Department of Small Business Development had been created in the “worst of times”, with the funds available to government not infinite.

She noted that the resources of large corporates, therefore, also had to be applied to growing the SMME sector.

Zulu pointed out that the participation of black people in the economy, 20 years after democracy, was still inadequate, stressing that government alone could not resolve the triple challenges of unemployment, poverty and inequality.

She urged big business to “look deeper” into supporting black entrepreneurs, but not only in terms of the provision of funds, but also the transfer of skills.

She added that, when giving money to SMMEs, corporates also had to take the history of the country into account and consider that many people did not have adequate financial management skills.

Therefore, while money had to be provided to fund new start-ups, mechanisms also had to be put in place to ensure that the SMMEs used the money provided in the best possible way.