Fifty (50) unemployed youth from four Gqeberha townships became new delivery business owners, with 10 receiving motorbikes with accessories worth R305 750 from the MEC for Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEDEAT) Nonkqubela Pieters at Veeplaas Community Hall today.
The handover of the 10 motorbikes with carrier boxes and accessories to unemployed youth from Motherwell, Walmer, KwaDwesi and New Brighton, is an initiative of Veeplaas-based delivery business, Kasi Delivery in collaboration with the Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC), an entity of DEDEAT and the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda). The Kasi Delivery Enterprise Development Programme kicked-off after Kasi Delivery approached the ECDC to collaborate on a programme to assist unemployed youth from Gqeberha townships to start their own delivery businesses to reduce growing unemployment. Kasi Delivery was struggling to keep up with demand and decided the best route is to empower young people to become independent business owners.
“In my policy speech tabled last Thursday, we committed to building an inclusive economy that creates employment opportunities, a top priority for this government. We are tasked with implementing this and other government priorities quicker, with more agility, and on a bigger scale. Supporting Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs), particularly in rural areas and townships, is a key intervention under this priority. Secondly, collaborating with partners like Kasi Delivery is part of our agile and responsive approach and we intend to expand this programme to other townships in Gqeberha and throughout the province”, says MEC Pieters
“We have committed a total of R1,3 million from its Small Town, Township, and Rural Entrepreneurship Programme (STTREP) for the purchase of the 50 motorbikes, carrier boxes, helmets, health and safety training as well as once-off insurance for a year for all the programme participants to kickstart their journey as new business owners. Importantly, the motorbikes will be registered in their names. Even though the approval is for 50 start-up youth entrepreneurs, the programme will be rolled out in phases. The handover of these 10 motorbikes and accessories will be followed by the testing of the programme for three to six months. Once successful, the balance of 40 will be purchased” adds MEC Pieters.
“Kasi Delivery has also invested R350,000 assisting the 50 business owners to obtain motorbike learners and drivers licenses. We are also excited that Kasi Delivery has also committed to sourcing the market for the 50 entrepreneurs, as well as coordinating the programme. Seda will offer capacity-building support to the 50 entrepreneurs in the form of business and financial management skills, initially focusing on the 10 which received their motorbikes today. This is critical support to ensure that the new entrepreneurs are sustainable and competitive,” says ECDC chief executive officer Ayanda Wakaba.
Wakaba says the Kasi Delivery Enterprise Development Programme is one of the important elements to developing a growing, diversifying, inclusive and robust Eastern Cape economy.
“The competitiveness and sustainability of these entrepreneurs will contribute to the socio-economic development of the Eastern Cape. These initiatives are crucial for stimulating employment and growth in the province as we deal with the challenges of a technical recession confronting the Eastern Cape,” Wakaba says.
The Kasi Delivery Enterprise Development Programme follows the successful hosting of the Kasi Food Festival by Kasi Delivery in partnership with the ECDC, Seda, Twizza and Mpuma Kapa TV in Motherwell, Gqeberha on 23 and 24 September 2023. The food festival featured 35 food vendors, mostly form the informal sector. The ECDC contributed R80,000 for the hiring of a tent and other logistics, while Seda provided vouchers worth R4,500 for each vendor for capacity-building and for buying ingredients for the foods products sold at the festival. Twizza provided stock, while Mpuma Kapa TV handled the broadcasting of the festival.
Following the successful hosting of the festival, Kasi Delivery expressed an interest to collaborate with the ECDC to further support and empower youth in townships, aiming to create much-needed employment opportunities specifically in Motherwell, Walmer, Kwa-Dwesi, and New Brighton. These young entrepreneurs will now be plugged into the Kasi Delivery system.
