Current Edition >> Archives Section >> SMME Information >> July 2001

The SA Bureau of Standards

What the Bureau of Standards is
The South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) is the official standards organisation for South Africa. Its main activities are standardisation, certification and testing of products.

Mission
To provide standardisation services that improve the competitiveness of South Africa through the understanding, maintaining and development of standards, products and services within South Africa and internationally.

Vision
To be recognised as a leading standardisation body, a global company, and the preferred provider of products and services which underpin the competitiveness of South Africa.

SABS SMME Development Department
As a pro-active effort to reach out to the SMME sector in South Africa, the SABS established its own SMME Development Department.

• Mission of the SMME Department
To contribute to the SABS Mission by co-ordinating internal and external interface between SABS, SMME's and South African State Departments.

• Vision of the SMME Department
To be the role model for SMME Development in the industry.
The SABS has regional offices in the following areas:
Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, Durban, Richards Bay, East London, Secunda, Bloemfontein and Windhoek.

• How the SMME Development Department works
The SABS SMME Department is entrusted with the responsibility of SMME development, PIP (Presidential Imperatives Programme) co-ordination and state projects. Noteworthy, these KPA (Key Performance Areas) are national priorities and thus the brief of the SMME Department is to ensure that objectives are synchronised with government policies as far as SMME development and PIPS are concerned.
The SABS SMME Department prides itself in offering services and products through Training and Development. This has been achieved through the Missing Link Programme, which is tailor made to provide SMME's with the knowledge, skills and capabilities necessary to manufacture high quality products, and services, which conform to national and international standards.
The Department has successfully ensured market penetration for SMME's by continually facilitating access to SABS services. This has been achieved through:
• product certification (mark scheme)
• system certification (ISO 9000/14000)
• capability reports and
• laboratory testing.
These initiatives by the SABS SMME Department are geared towards cultivating a conducive climate for global participation by the SMME sector. Not only this will make the SMME sector competitive in the global village but will also broaden the competitive scope and inadvertently result to a better competitive edge.
The SABS SMME Department provides support through subsidy and provides specialised services in order to ensure that SMME's exploit their niche markets. Of paramount importance is the implementation of SAEM (SA Excellence Model), putting in place corrective measures.
The Department has also been instrumental in providing tender advice through the interpretation of SABS specifications and the sign-posting of small businesses. Linked to this is the availability of trained co-ordinators whose tasks is to provide specialised services to SMME's. Advice is provided to the Department of Trade and Industry on issues related to National Building Regulations, and also acts as secretariat for the National Review Board.

Outreach to communities
The SABS has again made its presence felt amongst communities by launching a community based programme that seeks to improve the lives of ordinary people of South Africa. The programme, called 'The Presidential Imperatives Programme' (PIP) includes activities such as HIV/AIDS, Rural Development, Urban Renewal, Job Creation, Regional Integration, Human Resources Development and Crime Prevention. These programmes managed by the SMME Department of the SABS will be implemented throughout South Africa and her neighbouring countries.

SABS President and CEO, Eugene Julies, says: “The SABS is not only responsible for the people of South Africa, but the whole of Southern Africa. Together with the different organisations who have agreed to help us, we will fight poverty and the scourge of disease in this country” . He says the SMME's are just the tip of an iceberg in terms of developing and helping our people.

The missing link programme
The SABS's flagship training programme is aptly called The Missing Link Programme which trains small businesses in understanding and properly interpreting standards/ specifications during their manu-facturing processes. It targets industries such as clothing, electrical engineering, building and construction (civil engineering), tourism service programmes, welding and other endeavours. This has resulted last year nationally in the training of well over 2000 small business people through the programme.

One such successful project undertaken, is the Manqinana Timber Project in the Eastern Cape, which is both a Rural and SMME Development Programme and which is fully accredited. Wholly owned by Mr Mphuthumi Manqinana, the project is a small-open tank facility treating poles and wool with creosote to preserve against attacks by termites, wood borers and fungi.
According to the Divisional Head of the SMME Department at the SABS, Ms. Ndileka Nobaxa, the accreditation on the SABS 457 and 1288 specifications, has enabled the company to treat agricultural poles and timber in creosote preservatives. The company now employs about 65 people, and is able to generate about R2m per annum.

Strategic Alliances
Ms. Nobaxa has also confirmed that the SABS has entered into several strategic alliances with inter alia Ntsika, The National Manufacturers Advice Centres (NAMAC). In terms of this partnerships have been entered into with amongst others PERMAC (Port Elizabeth Manufacturing Advisory Centre - the Queenstown office) DURMAC (Durban Manufacturing Advisory Centre), the Ebony Consulting International Promoting and the Agribusiness Linkages Programme (PAL).
Such a partnership has enabled the assistance to black-owned concern, Komani Feeds owned by Dr Ntozakhe and based in Queenstown, to manufacture animal block feed containing an anthelminthic ingredient. This ingredient has the ability to sterilise the eggs of the round worm, thus breaking their life cycle. "SABS testing and approval of this product will add to the economic value to South Africa and the world at large, thereby creating the necessary jobs for the disadvantaged people”, Ms. Nobaxa says.

Conclusion
In conclusion Ms. Nobaxa emphasizes that the projects mentioned above are just a few amongst the many the SABS SMME Department has succeeded in. She says the unearthing of sustainable small business is a challenge facing the country as a whole. She challenges other partners in helping disadvantaged communities to stand up and be counted in this country so direly in need of sustainable SMME development.