Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2004.The promotion of Small, Medium and Micro enterprises (SMMEs) has



been identified as key strategy of government for employment



creation and income generation. For some time now small business



owners had to fend for themselves. Small business was neglected



and was in the main ignored by government. Since the 1994



democratic process the challenge for the new order has been to



create an enabling environment for the small business sector of the



economy. The historical neglect and the consequent policy vacuum



has had to be re assessed. To this end the 1995 White Paper on a



National Strategy for the development and Promotion of Small



Business in South Africa was the first major effort by government to



design a policy framework targeting the small business sector.



The promulgation of the Small Business Act in 1996 and the



establishment of the Ntsika Enterprise Promotion agency under the



aegis of the Department of Trade and Industry has attempted to



provide direction and facilitate the provision of Non Financial support



to the Small Business Sector. Various incentive schemes have been



developed and put into operation together with a range of tax



incentives to help promote Small Business. Eight years have passed



since the promulgation of the Small Business Act and the perception



that finance for SMMEs has been the greatest stumbling block to



development. However the failure of the vast numbers of micro



lending agencies have revealed that low levels of entrepreneurship



has led to their demise.



The provision of meaningful positive incentives need to be measured



and their effectiveness needs to be tested. This study will try and



identify the incentives available