Zuko Komisa

- The Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) has registered over 40,000 informal and micro businesses on its digital Connect System.
- The system helps regulate spaza shops, support small businesses with funding, and establish partnerships.
- Data from the platform will be shared with the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS) once cleansed and reorganised.
South Africa’s Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) has successfully registered more than 40,000 informal and micro businesses on its new digital platform, the DSBD Connect System.
The system is designed to regulate and support local spaza shops while helping small businesses secure funding and build original equipment manufacturer partnerships.
The update was shared by Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi, who chairs the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Migration. The DSBD is currently working alongside the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) and the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) to finalise a project implementation plan to boost registration numbers further.
“Registration of Informal and micro businesses is continuing. To date, more than 400 00 businesses have been captured on the DSBD Connect System, and the implementation of the plan will increase the number of registered businesses.”
The National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS) has requested access to this growing database.
The DSBD is currently compiling, cleansing, and repackaging the information from its own innovation portal and ecosystem partnerssuch as municipalities and the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) before handing it over.
Alongside business registration, the IMC’s borderline workstream has created a unified three-year infrastructure implementation plan.
This framework assigns specific tasks to the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, the Defence Works Formation, and the SA Army Engineer Corps.
The IMC plans to present a formal business case to the Minister of Finance to secure funding for these border initiatives.
READ NEXT: SARS grants a temporary grace period, reversing Trust Tax penalties



