This paper investigates the role of stakeholders (SMMEs' suppliers and employees) in SMMEs' success in the study area, Umhlathuze Local Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal. The study employed a descriptive research design; as a result, it adopted a quantitative research approach in collecting and analysing data. The study used a simple random sampling method to reduce bias when collecting data. The study randomly took a sample of 80 respondents from formal and informal SMMEs who were owners/managers of spaza-shops, tuck-shops, retail and wholesale stores, salons, restaurants, clothing stores, hardware and furniture stores. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and Microsoft Excel were used to analyse data. The results show that suppliers play a major role in making these SMMEs successful. The employees of the SMMEs were also found to be significant players in the success of these SMMEs because without their hard work and