The launch of the Botshabelo Industrial Park and Digital Hub in the Free State is set to benefit the province’s ecosystem, particularly under-served township businesses. And Free State entrepreneur Tumi Letsaba believes the hub will benefit his business. Letsaba, whose company Next Curve Creations recently developed an e-commerce app for SMMEs called Stocke and is based in Frankfort, attended the launch of the hub.
He also presented the Stocke App to Small Business Development Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, her deputy Sdumo Dlamini, and other officials from the department. “The presentation we made was fruitful in that for us as a company we had the opportunity to speak directly to the minister about our mission and how it aligns with the government’s mission of unleashing (the) true potential of SMMEs in South Africa,” he told Vutivi News.
Letsaba said that he was expecting to collaborate with others using the digital hub, which he hoped would help his company provide a digital identity to township-based enterprises. “The time has come to put words into action as an ecosystem, and to stop talking and produce results,” he told Vutivi News. “The hub is a step in that direction, and by us collaborating with them this will empower our mission.”
Letsaba’s platform already has 30 SMMEs and more than 200 users, and he plans on further growing his business by collaborating with the Free State Black Business Council. The entrepreneur also applauded the location of the hub, saying that it was smack bang in the middle of the community it was meant to serve. “What the hub aims to do is to bridge the digital divide that is in the community,” he said.
“It is a one-stop place where small enterprises can access state-of-the-art technology like super-fast computers, 3D printers and like-minded individuals whom we can collaborate with on key projects for the benefit of our communities. “We are hoping that being in the industrial park as well will give us opportunities to engage with manufacturers in the park and the hub, and we are also hoping to provide the same manufacturers with a digital identity and platform.”
Ndabeni-Abrahams told those attending the launch that there was a great need to invest in developing youth skills to achieve economic growth and create job opportunities. “We are encouraging private partnership to collaborate with the government to enhance and promote entrepreneurship in order to create a technological environment,” she said. The industrial park underwent an upgrade of almost R50-million and is aimed at stimulating entrepreneurship in the area.
