SMME by sector Classification 2019

• "Very small enterprises" no longer exist, and companies with a turnover of up to R220 million can qualify as medium-sized – at least in the wholesale trade.

• Asset value no longer counts at all.

• The updated definitions do away entirely with a fourth type of small business previously recognised, the "very small enterprise".

• "Many users found this size or class category unhelpful and inconsistent with international practice," Zulu said in her Government Gazette notice.

• The new definition also entirely removes gross asset value as a metric because it is "often inappropriate and difficult to measure".

• That leaves only two metrics to legally determine the size of a business: the number of employees (full time paid employees, or the equivalent of full time paid employees), and total annual turnover.

• The ceiling for employees has also been updated, and is now uniform across all companies, regardless of the sector they trade in.

o Micro enterprises can have a maximum of 10 employees,
o small businesses must have between 10 and 50 employees,
o and medium-sized enterprises can have up to 250 employees.