The Western Cape government has launched a business relief fund through which it will be committing R27 million (about US$1.6 million) to small businesses in the formal and informal sectors that have been harshly affected by the coronavirus.
In a statement released on Tuesday, MEC of Finance and Economic Opportunities David Maynier said that times have been tough for businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic and that his department had been working hard to support businesses, especially small businesses, to open safely and responsibly and save jobs in the province as well as its economy.
The fund will provide financial assistance in the form of a financial grant to be used exclusively to subsidise business-related expenses, such as fixed costs, operational costs, supplier debt and other pressure cost items.
Maynier said on Monday that the Covid-19 workplace safety campaign had also been launched with an aim to remind businesses of the importance of maintaining and implementing the safety guidelines in the workplace.
“This campaign also encourages them to make use of the many tools and resources we have on our website to help them implement these safety measures in the workplace,” Maynier said.
He said as South Africa entered the less restrictive alert level 1 of the national Covid-19 lockdown, more businesses would reopen, and the fund was an important step to helping the economy recover.
Businesses interested in accessing the fund can submit their applications on https://www.westerncape.gov.za/general-publication/western-cape-c-19-business-relief-fund. The closing date for all submissions is October 12 at 10am.
Source: ANA
