MAKHADO (LOUIS TRICHARDT) – The South African Breweries Ltd (SAB) announced a sponsorship of R100 000 this week for the Soutpansberg Chamber of Commerce's annual Entrepreneurs Week.

The sponsorship cheque was handed over by Ms Octavia Mamabolo, SAB Corporate Affairs Manager: North Region, to the Chairperson of the Chamber, Ms Jana Smith, during a short ceremony at the Lalapanzi Hotel.

Ms Mamabolo, on behalf of SAB Ltd, expressed profound appreciation to the Soutpansberg Chamber of Commerce for making SAB a partner in their development agenda. She wished the Chamber well with their planned activity and the entrepreneurs who will take part in this endeavour. Ms Mamabolo said that, on its own, corporate investment is a drop in the development ocean.

"With a total budget of only R2,2 billion from the entire business fraternity, it falls well short of the development funding quantum South Africa annually requires. Faced with shrinking resources and increasing competitive pressures, the corporate social investment (CSI) budgets of South African companies are unlikely to increase in the foreseeable future. Simultaneously, societal pressures and business imperatives are demanding greater accountability from, and return on, corporate social investment. These profound effects on the giving process are forcing businesses like SAB to search for more creative ways to address the challenges and 'make' our investments work. Whilst we may not have abundant funds available, we do believe that we can provide a valuable contribution through a combination of funding, expertise and skill," Ms Mamabolo said. Mamabolo added that partnerships, such as the one with the Chamber, are emerging as the most expedient way of getting involved in social development projects.

"By accessing expertise and sharing recourses and skills, we hold the view that partnerships can provide mutual benefit, whilst also giving projects the critical mass and momentum they require for success."

Mamabolo said a significant portion of SAB's CSI spending is focused on job creation. This is done through programmes such as Kick Start, an entrepreneurial development programme for the youth.

"The decision to fund the Soutpansberg Chamber of Commerce and to strengthen our relationships with them, is because we recognise the fact that a growing small business sector can make a significant contribution to job creation, poverty relief and economic growth and what better place to start than with the youth? We hope that through our intervention they will be able to create, albeit on a small scale, additional jobs. We are aware of the fact that SMEs need assistance with a whole range of business services – not just generic training solutions. It is our view that those services are best supplied by business service providers in the market, who specialise in a particular service themselves. Not only does this enable the small and medium enterprises to concentrate on what they do best, but it also creates work opportunities for other SME service providers.

"SAB targets their CSI spend at business service providers and in the process, ensure that these service providers become accessible to other SME's," Ms Mamabolo said.