Small businesses in the Northern Cape are making large strides in becoming established institutions.
This according to Gladys Motshele, provincial manager of the Mme Re Ka Thusa Trust Fund.
The awards ceremony of this fund’s annual Rock Solid Conference was held at the Mittah Seperepere Convention Centre on 3 September.
“I am extremely happy for the winners and proud of all the entrants. There was an extremely high standard this year,” Motshele said.
The ceremony formed part of the annual conference, which included skills development workshops for entrepreneurs. These workshops centered on the skills and attributes required to run a successful small business.
Noncedo Seekoei, the owner of Karoo Travel Dimensions, is the Northern Cape businesswoman of the year and won in the category best youth business. She received R70 000 and a trip to the annual Enterprise and Supplier Development Conference, which will be held in Johannesburg in November.
Her company aims to fill a gap in the tourism market in the Pixley ka Seme Region, offering guided and donkey cart tours to visitors in De Aar, Hanover, Britstown, Carnarvon, Colesberg and surrounding areas.
The business has created four permanent jobs for graduates and matriculants, and Seekoei aims to further expand it through the purchase of its own tour vehicles.
Entrepreneurs in various categories were rewarded for making progress in their businesses and making headway into product development and access to market.
Category winners received cash prizes and bursaries for the Absa Accelerator Programme - each to the value of R20 000.