MAHIKENG MAIL-MAHIKENG: Whilst some people and companies remain frustrated and depressed during the lockdown period, some are using the time to their benefit by boosting their intellectual capacity.

The South African National Small Bus Operators (SANSBOC) and Transport Education Training Authority (TETA) have partnered to provide Entrepreneurship and Statutory Compliance Online Programme for Small Bus Operators. The programme involves over 120 companies from all 9 provinces of the country and over 50 of them have opted for the online course during the lockdown period.

The National Secretary of SANSBOC, Final Kgodumo explained that their council is on a massive drive to empower their members so that they can grow their business. “We know that many of the small business owners are not formally trained to run businesses and in most cases they experience difficulties when they have to comply with statutory regulations or develop strategies to grow their businesses. We felt that we must empower them so that they can take advantage of many economic opportunities that government made available”.

The training offered by Letken Institute for Business Leadership which is also responsible for content development. According to the Managing Director of Kenlet Educational Projects, Keneilwe Letselela, and this programme is one of the many offerings they have developed for small enterprises and individuals aspiring to start businesses.

“The initial intention was to conduct workshops around the country but with the lockdown situation we had to swiftly create a virtual platform to comply with physical distancing. We have currently created an online learning portal for 40 participants and capacity for video lecture ring for more 200 people. It is both challenging and exciting because if we don’t adapt our systems to suite this times we will become obsolete,” she said.

One of the participants Emmanuel Dintwe expressed his gratitude to TETA and SANSBOC for the opportunity. “This intervention is very important for me and very valuable for my company. I’ve been fully engaged in the past week learning from expects on how grow our business and comply with the regulations,” said Dintwe.

Moses Mokoni echoed the same sentiment and indicated that the information they are getting will come handy when dealing with new challenges brought by the virus.

One of the facilitators in the programme Lesedi Matlholwa, a former University Lecturer and a successful Business Practitioner advised entrepreneurs to prepare for the ‘new normal’ with the advent of COVID-19. Businesses must find new ways of doing things because the new regulations have disrupted the way of conduction business and that will remain for a foreseeable future. Online platforms for learning and conducting business will now be a new normal.

Keneilwe Letselela added that their platform is also available for private companies and schools who want to continue with their meetings or lessons. “We created capacity to host meetings for other businesses and other providers’ content offering. There is no longer excuse for meetings or workshops to be postponed because people can get into a virtual room and engage on business or learning,” she said.