Certificates were handed out to a delighted group of informal traders who have completed the Grow Your Business course run by Wits university in partnership with the City.

SMARTLY dressed in traditional outfits, informal traders who have completed the Grow Your Business course posed for pictures outside the hall before they received their certificates for completing the programme.

The ceremony - for 550 newly trained business people - was held at the Great Hall on the east campus of the University of the Witwatersrand, in Braamfontein on Sunday, 20 July.

Wits Enterprise, the university's commercial company, was contracted by the City of Johannesburg to provide training to informal sector entrepreneurs. The training covered the basic fundamentals of small business management, such as budgeting, pricing, marketing, drawing up a business plan, networking and other information essential for running a business.

Joburg's executive director of economic development, Jason Ngobeni, praised the initiative. "I do not believe that there is another city in this country that invests in and creates as many opportunities for informal trade as the City of Joburg."

He said it was his belief that taking the course would not end in receiving a certificate at a ceremony, but would evolve into the growth of some of the businesses into businesses that contributed largely to the growing of the economy.

Wits Enterprise's Charles Marais encouraged the traders not to take the learning curve that they had started for granted, as it was a huge step towards contributing to the country's economy.

Always learning
They must continue learning because, "the more you learn, the more we benefit as a society". However, while it was important to learn, it was also important to apply the knowledge you had acquired.

"Learning is like cooking, and applying the knowledge is like eating; you cannot be healthy from cooking only. In order to be healthy you need to eat the food that you have cooked and that is like applying knowledge," Marais said.

Vasco Ndebele, from the City's Metropolitan Trading Company, said: "Days such as these are important because they are an opportunity for us to celebrate humanity as the City. These graduations come after a time when a brother fought another brother, but we are celebrating today with our brothers because we have realised that we are more united than we are separated."

Delighted traders smiled broadly with excitement as their names were called, and they went up on stage to collect their certificates. They thanked the City for the "wonderful" opportunity to grow their business knowledge.

"On behalf of all the traders we would like to thank the City of Joburg and Wits university for such a wonderful opportunity," said one of the traders, Obi Georgeson from Yeoville. "The course has really taught us a lot of things we did not know about trading and for that we say thank you."

Another trader, Nompumelelo Myeza, was also grateful for the opportunity. "I did not know much about running a business when I first came here but today I know a lot. Thank you very much City of Joburg."

Facilitators
Tshepiso Moaholi and Nyiko Maluleka, two of the course's facilitators, were given shopping vouchers for being the best facilitators.

Moahloli, who is studying economic science, did not expect to anything for her participation, but being chosen as "the best" meant that she had made a difference in somebody's life.

Maluleka, an accounting student, also did not expect a reward for taking part. "I feel very honoured and respected. I did not expect something like this. I thought that I was just giving back to the community. This is really more than I bargained for."

It was the first time the students had taken part in such a project, but they both said that they had enjoyed it and would do it again if they got the opportunity.

Maluleka said he had made friends with the traders he had worked with, and had learned that to be respected by others, you need to respect them in turn.

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