Johannesburg - "This is why I left politics," said Cyril Ramaphosa, executive chair of the Shanduka Group and former secretary-general of the African National Congress, on Tuesday.

Ramaphosa says for a long time big transactions kept him focused on the wrong track. "True black economic empowerment (BEE) takes place at the small business level."

He was speaking during the launch of Shanduka Black Umbrellas in Johannesburg, an initiative supporting entrepreneurship that has been operating in Cape Town for two years.

The Black Umbrellas initiative is aimed at helping small and medium enterprises (SMEs) flourish by supporting them in terms of transport and accounting, providing them with office space and offering them mentorship.

According to Ramaphosa the enterprises are "seriously" screened before they can be part of the programme.

"These are real businesses, not Mickey Mouse enterprises," he points out. The objective is to have about 100 of them in Johannesburg by the end of next year as part of the initiative. In the Cape there are already 39 up and running.

- Sake24.com

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