30/09/2026
๐ง๐จ๐ง ๐๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ ๐ฎ ๐๐ผ๐น๐ฑ ๐ก๐ฒ๐ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฆ๐ผ๐๐๐ต ๐๐ณ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎโ๐ ๐ก๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ ๐ฆ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐.
Imagine a world where every student with a spark of a business idea has the tools, mentorship, and opportunities to turn it into a flourishing enterprise. This bold vision is already reshaping South Africa's entrepreneurial future.
On 7 July 2026, the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) visited the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) Centre for Entrepreneurship Development to learn from one of the country's leading entrepreneurship support centres and explore collaboration opportunities. Located within the Tshwane School for Business and Society, the Centre has become a beacon of entrepreneurship development, empowering students and aspiring entrepreneurs with practical business skills, mentorship, incubation support and real-world enterprise experience. Its impact has earned national recognition, including the prestigious National Presidential Award: Innovative Solutions for Small Businesses in 2023.
This was more than just a site visit as it offered a window into the future of entrepreneurship education in South Africa. The Centreโs approach breaks free from conventional classroom methods, inspiring students to learn by innovating, experimenting, building ventures and taking ownership of real businesses. The visit empowered students to spot opportunities, craft solutions, test their ideas and launch enterprises that generate jobs and fuel local economic growth.
The lessons from the visit are helping to inform the operationalisation of the National Entrepreneurship Strategy, which proposes strengthening Entrepreneurship Centres across South Africa's 26 public universities and 50 TVET colleges, creating a nationally coordinated platform that supports students from idea generation and innovation through to commercialisation, market access, funding readiness and enterprise growth. The TUT Centre for Entrepreneurship Development has been identified as a best-practice model that can help shape this vision.
I The National Entrepreneurship Strategy could turn Entrepreneurship Centres into vibrant engines of innovation and enterprise creation. By linking students with mentors, industry leaders, investors and support programmes, these centres could unleash the potential of thousands of young South Africans, transforming campus dreams into thriving businesses and students into tomorrowโs employers. This is about more than nurturing entrepreneurs; it is about cultivating a generation of innovators, problem-solvers and job creators who will propel South Africaโs economic growth and prosperity for generations.
