More than half of SA small businesses cannot keep cash flowing

South Africa's small businesses are caught in a structural working capital squeeze: more than half struggle to keep cash healthy, and nearly half name late payments as the single biggest brake on their growth. But the problem compounds on itself — 46% of businesses spend one to two months chasing invoices that are already owed to them, draining time and liquidity simultaneously. With R12.4 billion in government invoices alone sitting unpaid beyond the 30-day mark, the cash flow crisis facing SA's small business sector is not a seasonal shortfall but a systemic failure of payment culture.