By Nangamso Mabindla
22 April 2004

THE BUFFALO Park Cricket ground's pavilion in East London was converted from a player's paradise to a gala hall when it hosted a colourful small business summit gala on Wednesday.

The summit was aimed at encouraging people to become entrepreneurs and create jobs for themselves by sharing ideas and discussing the ingredients of successful entrepreneurs.

"I cannot over-emphasise the importance of the topic because it goes to the heart of one of our greatest challenges; to create jobs and push back the frontiers of poverty," executive mayor Sindisile Maclean said. "We dare not fail this challenge."

The mayor said it was important to connect the country's two economies. "We need to create the existence of entrepreneurship which is driving Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) so that there is something we can connect to the first economy."

Turning his attention to challenges facing Buffalo City, the mayor said nearly half of the city's population qualified as indigents. "We know from our research that the absorptive capacity of industry and commerce is not sufficient to address our unemployment rate."

Echoing the need for SMMEs, the Minister of Minerals and Energy, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, said: "Young people do not need to be unemployed, they should be job creators. I believe we can achieve this through SMMEs. It has been proven in developed countries that these are engines to successful economies."

If they planned to be the masters of their own destiny, Mlambo-Ngcuka warned entrepreneurs to set realistic goals. "Make sure that you've done your homework so that your dreams don't become a nightmare or you become another business could-have-been."

After her address, a live band played cover versions from the country's jazz greats like Letta Mbulu, Miriam Makeba and Hugh Masekela.