Challenges faced by SEDA in providing training and mentoring support services to SMME's

Abstract

Increasingly, literature suggests that there is a causal link between the development of the Small, Medium and Micro-enterprise (SMME) sector and economic and social development, especially in developing countries. It is for this reason that many countries are pursuing SMME development policies as part of their growth and social development strategies, including South Africa. To this effect, the South African government has also developed policies and established institutions to support SMME development. However, the development of the SMME sector in South Africa is still lagging behind that of many developing countries and the failure rate of SMME remains very high. Research has predominantly attempted to find reasons for SMME failure by focusing on challenges faced by SMMEs. However, literature now suggests that the problem also lies within the institutions that are meant to provide support to the SMMEs. The purpose of the study was to investigate short-comings in the provision of support services by Seda to SMMEs, particularly training and mentoring. In this regard, the study found that the main challenge faced by Seda is with regards to its poor accessibility. Other challenges include poor quality of trainers and mentors skills; training programmes that fail to respond to SMMEs‟ needs; lack of resources; poor monitoring and evaluation. The study concluded that the challenges faced by Seda have contributed, to some extent, to the slow progress in the development of SMMEs.