Mogale City Local Municipality in partnership with Standard Bank, ABSA and the West Rand Development Agency (WRDA) recently held a well-attended business fair to empower existing and budding local businesses.
The business fair was held at the Kagiso Memorial Centre.
West Rand District Municipality MMC Dennis Thabe detailed the municipality’s plans to expand business opportunities in the West Rand. “We are grateful that WRDA and Mogale City saw it fit to host such a significant event in one of our townships. This shows that our municipalities are focusing on the needs of its communities, more so, businesses,” Councillor Thabe said.
“We have plans in place that will ensure that our people are not left behind when we roll out our business strategy. Various mines and banks have been roped in as partners and we want budding local Small, Medium and Micro Entities (SMMEs) as well as existing businesses to benefit from this partnership,’ he added.
WRDA Executive Chairman Terrence Mokale said Sibanye-Stillwater Mines has acquired a portion of land in the West Rand where academies will be constructed in the next five years.
Thabisile Phumo who is the Head of Stakeholder Relations at Sibanye-Stillwater Mine implored SMME’s to venture into the mining industry. “We want to encourage local business people to work on their business plans because we cannot afford to always turn down business proposals due to lack of proper presentations,” Phumo explained.
Banking sector representatives in attendance also encouraged local business people to submit their business plans and funding requests on time.
The Gauteng Enterprise propeller (GEP) was also represented.