Ina Opperman The Minister of Small Business Development and the DA shadow minister are at loggerheads regarding the actual amount of money spent to support small businesses during the pandemic. File image: iStock
Minister of Small Business Development Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said she is “appalled at the misinformation peddled by the DA” and that a bit of fact-checking would have clarified that the department managed to reprioritise only R500 million for small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) debt relief and not the “purported R1.4 billion” claimed by the DA.
She said the department had kept the nation updated on the progress with the fund.
Minister reveals Covid-19 relief fund details for small business
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Minister of Small Business Development, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, says she is appalled at the misinformation peddled by the Democratic Alliance (DA) about the expenditure of the small business Covid-19 relief funds.
The DA recently issued a statement claiming the Department of Small Business Development has only allocated 8% of the funds meant as Covid-19 relief for small businesses.
In a statement released on Thursday, the department said it had only managed to reprioritize R500 million for the Small, Medium and Macro Enterprise (SMME) Debt Relief and not the purported R1.4 billion as claimed by the DA.