A new small, medium-sized and microenterprise (SMME) incubator, set to be launched in Diepsloot, Johannesburg, within the next few months, will set the bar for the Gauteng provincial government as it revitalises South Africa’s township economies.

The Gauteng Department of Economic Development is moving to build a new economy driven by SMMEs, township enterprises and community cooperatives over the next five years, Economic Development MEC Lebogang Maile says.

The planned Diepsloot incubation hub, devel- oped in conjunction with Century Property Development, forms part of the Gauteng provincial government’s ambitions of mainstreaming the township economy during the next five years.

The “ground-breaking” hub, which will enable the sustainable development of SMME’s as they are mentored, supported and incubated into large businesses, will be the model for several planned incubation centres and township hubs offering technical support, funding, offtake agreements and access to markets.

The Department of Economic Development has identified several old industrial sites in Residentia, Katlehong, Babelegi, Ekandustria and Emndeni that will be regenerated into vibrant and productive spaces attracting private-sector investment.

These revamped old township industrial parks will specialise in light manufacturing in the automotive, furniture manufacturing, plastics, polymers and chemicals sectors, Maile explains.

Gauteng Premier David Makhura said during his State of the Province address last month that the significant participation and meaningful inclusion of the people of Diepsloot, Thokoza, Bekkersdal, Sharpeville, Mamelodi and Kliptown in the mainstream economy of Gauteng through government-supported township enterprises would be one of the “key game changers” during the second phase of the transition to a national democratic society.

Further, Maile pointed to the roll-out of “township enterprise hubs”, based on the Winterveld Enterprise Hub, which was already recording promising levels of participation, income generation and job creation for the small enterprises in that area, across Gauteng’s oldest townships.

“We will engage in an extensive review of the township business renewal funding scheme to make it more responsive to the needs and challenges faced by township entrepreneurs,” he commented.

The department is set to visit 50 townships over the next few weeks prior to the roll-out of the enterprise hubs.