In boardrooms and rural fields, in township workshops and underutilised municipal land, a quiet but persistent force has long existed in South Africa’s economy. Cooperatives, community property associations, family-run ventures and small enterprises have sustained livelihoods for decades — often without recognition, scale, or structural support. Now, a decisive shift is underway: these “dynamic enterprises” are being repositioned not as survival mechanisms, but as engines of inclusive growth.
At the centre of this shift is a bold national conversation led by Kagiso Trust and Centre for the Advancement of Dynamic Enterprises (CADE), who are convening leaders across sectors to confront a defining economic question: how do we unlock the full potential of businesses that have long operated on the fringes?
A Defining Moment in Pretoria
On 4–5 May, policymakers, business leaders, academics and civil society will gather at the CSIR International Convention Centre for the inaugural CADE Summit. The objective is not theoretical. It is deeply practical: to design a framework that allows collective enterprises to move from informal resilience to formal competitiveness.
The urgency is clear. South Africa has no shortage of opportunity — land, infrastructure, procurement budgets and market demand all exist. What’s missing, according to CADE Executive Director Madumezulu Girlie Silinda, is the connective tissue.
“The enterprise layer that should be absorbing and multiplying these resources remains weak, fragmented, and lacking in governance,” she explains.
This gap — between available resources and the ability to deploy them productively — represents one of the country’s most significant untapped economic levers.
Beyond Survival: Rewriting the Role of Collective Enterprises
For decades, many cooperatives and community-based ventures have been framed through a social welfare lens. They’ve been supported, but rarely scaled. Funded, but seldom integrated into competitive value chains.
The CADE Summit aims to dismantle that paradigm.
Dynamic enterprises — spanning agriculture, manufacturing, property and services — already meet real market needs. Yet, they often stall at the point where growth requires structure: governance systems, access to patient capital, integration into supply chains, and the ability to compete beyond localised ecosystems.
Quinton Naidoo, Head of Socio-Economic Development at Kagiso Trust, sees this as both a challenge and an opportunity.
“Igniting human capacity requires more than good intentions. It requires the systemic conditions, enterprise architecture, and patient capital that enable communities to build competitive ventures.”
In other words, the conversation is no longer about whether these enterprises matter — it’s about how to make them matter at scale.
The Structural Puzzle: From Fragmentation to Flow
At the heart of the summit lies a set of critical, unresolved questions:
- How can financing models be redesigned to support long-term, sustainable enterprise growth?
- What frameworks enable cooperatives to plug into modern value chains effectively?
- How can municipal assets — often abundant but underutilised — be activated to stimulate local economies?
- What governance models ensure accountability while enabling agility?
These are not isolated issues. They are interconnected pieces of a broader economic architecture — one that determines whether opportunity flows or stagnates.
Municipalities, for instance, are often asset-rich but cash-constrained. Without mechanisms to translate assets into enterprise activity, potential remains dormant. Meanwhile, small enterprises struggle to access markets that are structurally out of reach.
Bridging this divide requires coordination across sectors — something the summit is explicitly designed to catalyse.
Leadership at the Forefront
The gathering will feature influential voices including Bonang Mohale, chair of Bidvest and ArcelorMittal, delivering a keynote address, alongside leaders such as Mtho Xulu, president of the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Mzi Dayimani, CEO of the National Empowerment Fund.
Their presence underscores a critical point: inclusive growth is not a niche agenda. It is central to South Africa’s economic future.
A 40-Year Legacy Meets a New Economic Vision
For Kagiso Trust, this initiative builds on four decades of advancing socio-economic transformation. But the tone has evolved. Where previous efforts focused on access and upliftment, the current moment demands competitiveness and sustainability.
Paul Smith, Head of the Local Governance Support Programme at Kagiso Trust, emphasises the importance of collaboration:
“We need accountable, enabling environments where these enterprises can thrive — and that requires alignment between communities, government and the private sector.”
It’s a call for collective responsibility in a system where no single player can solve the challenge alone.
The Bigger Picture: Redefining Freedom Through Economic Participation
What’s emerging is more than a policy discussion. It’s a reframing of economic inclusion itself.
If dynamic enterprises can transition from fragmented survivalist operations into structured, competitive businesses, the implications are profound:
- Job creation rooted in local communities
- Wealth generation that circulates rather than concentrates
- Economic participation that is both dignified and sustainable
The CADE Summit represents a first step in formalising that vision — moving from conversation to coordinated action.
Because in a country where opportunity exists but access remains uneven, the true measure of progress lies not in resources alone, but in the systems that allow people to use them.
