The road to recovery for South African businesses will be a long and difficult one, especially for the small players.
Supplier Development Initiatives (SDI), in partnership with FNB, handed over 18 vehicles to individuals who run micro-businesses as part of SweepSouth and Loadit, as well as Bolt e-hailing drivers.
Not only will the vehicles enable these micro-suppliers to keep their small businesses going, but they will also assist with growth and expansion, giving them the opportunity to earn an income, contribute meaningfully to the economy and uplift themselves.
This SDI initiative aims to put small businesses and micro-suppliers back to work and help keep their families and communities alive. These vehicles, purchased through FNB funding, will be donated free-of-charge to micro-suppliers from each organisation that have a professional, proven track record. All they will need to do is arrange their own insurance. It’s a move that will fundamentally change the lives of these individuals and their businesses. With unemployment on the rise, initiatives like this contribute to economic stability by creating self-employment opportunities.
SDI, an existing service-on-demand platform, has built its model around supporting and enabling micro-suppliers in multiple industries, giving them access to greater business opportunities. “We have always championed the little guys,” explains Andile Ramaphosa, SDI Co-Founder. “And in the current economic climate, we’re ramping up our efforts to ensure that they don’t fall through the cracks.”
The handover event, a small affair for less than 50 people took place on 3 July 2020 and is called Rishume Day, a Venda phrase meaning “let’s work to make things work.”
