Staff reporter
Thabong, Welkom – It was jubilation and celebrations on Monday, 5 August 2024, when the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC), lit up SMMEs in Thabong, Welkom.
The IDC-sponsored Township Economic Fund is aimed at lifting heavy burdens on SMMEs by providing solar panels and inventors.
In partnership with the Umnombo Foundation, strategic implementation partners (SIPs) identified 15 businesses in the first phase that saw 5 beneficiaries receive a huge boost for their businesses, yesterday, the program was officially unveiled.
Naomi Koeberg, Senior LED Manager at IDC said they are making available R200 million nationally.
“IDC is making available R200 million in the form of grant funding to end beneficiaries through strategic implementing partners (SIPs) and innovative agglomeration/aggregation solutions.”
Koeberg was accompanied by two LED managers: Ornet Nene and Mthuza Ndletsge.
Pontso Maphale, owner of Mvuselelo Restaurant was the first beneficiary that had a solar panel and inventor installed, and a gas cylinder.
Maphale said her business started suffering after Covid-19 and power cuts made life difficult as she had to let go of three employees.
Watch:
Other beneficiaries are:
PT Upholstery
MMF Legacy Auto
Andro Pat Water Purification
Chisanyama
WATCH:
Hlathi Beni, director of Umnombo Foundation said they have been working with IDC since 2016 and thanked them for turning lives around.
“As Umnombo Foundation, we have working with the IDC since 2019, this project is very close to our hearts as we see how load-shedding and power cuts continue to cripple small businesses and those in townships, in particular.
We hope, this, will alleviate additional costs as beneficiaries won’t be spending money they don’t have on fuel for generators.”
The next phase will see 15 other beneficiaries identified and have solar panels installed.
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