Statement by Executive Mayor Gesie van Deventer
[FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE]
Stellenbosch Municipality has provided tender process training to local business in an effort to help them compete more successfully for local tenders. Stellenbosch Municipality provided vitally important training to 41 local business owners.
As part of our ongoing mission to promote economic development, these business owners, all from the greater Stellenbosch area, was selected to partake in the Tender Process Training to empower them with the necessary skills to compete in a very competitive business environment.
The need for training was highlighted by the fact that business owners, particularly local small businesses owners, approach the Municipality on a daily basis seeking advice on how to be more successful. Many express frustration that they cannot successfully compete for local government tenders due to how complicated the process is. Doing business with public institutions is very daunting and intimidating, and it prevents people from accessing job opportunities. The lack of knowledge from local business owners results in tenders sometimes being awarded to businesses from outside our municipal area.
The training focussed on educating local business owners, who would like to become suppliers to local government on how to complete a tender document, prepare costing and pricing and how important it is to meet submission deadlines. The skills they received in training is relevant to doing business in the private sector as well as doing business with public institutions.
During a recent ceremony held at Lanzerac, all the business owners who successfully completed the program, received certificates for the training they completed. Ms Nombulelo Ntsunguzi, a business owner from Franschhoek who completed the training, said that this taught her how important it is to take responsibility for your own business. She also said that the training helped her improve her business administration skills which has improved the wellbeing of her business in general.
“As local government, we will continue to provide skills and training to our local businesses and entrepreneurs to make them successful in accessing every possible opportunity. The purpose of starting a business is not to only do business with government institutions, but to make a successful contribution to the economy. Successfully competing for government tenders, and tenders in the private sector however, does allow small businesses to grow. With that in mind the training was only made available for established businesses. Supporting small and medium businesses is key in growing our economy and creating jobs’’, says Mayor Gesie van Deventer.
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Media queries:
Stuart Grobbelaar T: 021 808 8172 | C: 084 036 1395
Mart-Marié Haasbroek T: 021 808 8024 | C: 072 910 3724
