President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed the National Small Enterprise Amendment Bill to establish a new entity – the Small Enterprise Development Finance Agency – which will incorporate the Small Enterprise Development Finance Agency (Sefa), the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) and the Cooperative Banks Development Agency.

The new entity will function as a one-stop shop for aspiring entrepreneurs and will promote the development of the cooperative banking institutions.

Seda and Sefa are currently located within the Department of Small Business Development.

The purpose of the Amendment Bill was to streamline the support services government provided to small and medium-sized businesses as part of broadening participation in the economy by a greater number of South Africans, the Presidency said in a July 23 statement.

The Act also establishes the Office of the Small Enterprise Ombud Service, which may, as part of dealing with complaints, recommend that the Small Business Development Minister declare certain practices in relation to small enterprises to be prohibited unfair trading.

Further, under the new law, the Minister may also make regulations setting the criteria to determine the classification of small, medium-sized and microenterprises, as well as any legislation affecting small enterprises, the Presidency noted.