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9 April 2020 | Covid – 19 Retail Tenants Relief Package

COVID-19 SMME Relief Packages: A Summary 
Published on April 13, 2020

There are quite a few COVID-19 relief funds available for SMME’s, it can be a little challenging to navigate and make sense of all of them. We spent the last few days speaking to as many of the relief package custodians as we could, in the hope

Thursday 9th April, Estienne de Klerk, South African CEO, Growthpoint Properties: We spoke about the Retail Tenants Relief Package
Click here for the full YouTube video
In short, the relief provided through the Retail Tenants Relief Package by the Property Industry Group is:
• The value of the relief package is estimated between R2bn and R3bn
• A list will be made available of all participating Landlords
• Tenants should engage with Landlords directly to activate this relief for themselves
• The current package is intended only for retail tenants in good standing at 29 February 2020, even retailers in office or industrial parks will qualify.
• Office, Industrial and Hospitality tenants will be dealt with by Landlords on a case-by-case basis
• The relief is offered in the form of a rental discount or deferral for April and May per category of Retailer, the focus being on SMME’s as per Department of Trade and Industry definition of annual turnover less than R80m (see detailed relief package table in info document
• ‘Rental’ refers to rental, operational costs and parking rent. However, rates and taxes, utilities and insurance remain payable in full.


Thursday 9th April, Tumi Sefolo, Executive for Direct Lending and the Small Enterprise Development Agency: We spoke about the Department of Small Business Development’s SMME Debt Relief Fund and SMME Business Resilience and Growth Fund
Click here for the full YouTube video
In short, the relief provided by The Department of Small Business Development:
Small Enterprise Finance Agency (SEFA) is the implementing agency of the SMME Debt Relief Fund and the SMME Business Resilience and Growth Fund for the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD). They have received 10 000 applications and on 9th April they approved their first round of funding for the Business Growth Fund. It is important to note:
• Both these relief funds are loans and not grants.
• The assistance will be a loan at prime -5%, repayment terms will be decided on an individual basis based on the cashflow projections
• General qualifying criteria:
o Registered with CIPC as at 29 February 2020
o 100% owned by South Africans and employ 70% South Africans
o Tax compliant and UIF registered
o Documents required will be proof of the above as well as copies of ID documents of directors and cashflow projections and 3 months bank statements.
Qualifying SMME’s can only apply for one of the relief options below:
Business growth and resilience fund
• This R300m facility is exclusively to assist existing businesses (SMME’s) that are experiencing increased demand for products or services due to the impact of COVID-19.
• Particularly those who manufacture (locally) or supply various products that are in demand.
• The maximum amount that businesses can apply for is R15 million, but they are willing to look at working capital requirements of less than R200 000.
SMME Debt Relief fund.
• The R300m Debt relief fund is aimed at providing relief on existing debts and repayments, to assist SMMEs during COVID-19.
• This facility will also assist entities to acquire raw material, pay labour and other operational costs
• Maximum amount per application is R500,000 and applications for less than R200,000 will be considered.
Register at https://smmesa.gov.za

Click on link for webinar:

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_QqBwrX1WRKuFxQLHCA_pEw