The Minister of Small Business, Co-operatives and Marketing, Mr. Machesetsa Mofomobe has announced that his ministry will start the districts’ business hub tour starting on May 30, 2022.
This, Mr. Mofomobe announced at the press conference held at the ministry’s premises on Friday.
The Minister said the ministry will tour all ten districts to meet with small business operators where they will learn about the area where street vendors will prefer their business hubs to be located, adding that the first district to be visited will be Mokhotlong.
He said one of the things that the ministry deals with is to ensure that the well-being of small business people is secured, saying when the ministry realised that the working conditions and surroundings of the vendors are poor, the ministry went into action to see how they can improve their facilities hence district business hub tour.
He said the ministry also approached the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftainship as they are responsible for the allocation of land where small businesses operate, saying he is grateful that both ministries will work together to ensure that they improve the working conditions of vendors.
Also speaking, the Principal Secretary of Small Business, Co-operatives and Marketing, Advocate Bereng Makotoko said the new business hubs that the ministry intends to build for small business operators are expected to entail clean toilets, electricity, clean water, WIFI and many other essentials that are needed for their daily operations.
He said once the street vendors have provided the ministry with leased land that they can use for their businesses, the ministry will build a business hub for them.
He mentioned that the ministry will not use the funds from the government but will use the grant or loan provided to the ministry by the sponsors.
This is the first project that the ministry will undertake to build a secured business hub for street vendors in all ten districts.
By Staff Reporter: Noliwe Velaphe