Marginalisation

Factors contributing to the demise of informal enterprises: evidence from a Cape township

Andrew Hartnack, Sustainable Livelihoods Foundation on 16 January 2017
Reads 14,824

The reasons for the closure of fairly well-established informal enterprises are varied. Between 2010 and 2015, in the Cape Flats township of Delft South, a key factor was the failure to respond adequately to the more entrepreneurial business model of foreign traders and the strict enforcement of unfavourable liquor trading policies. Still, household misfortunes and broader socio-cultural dynamics also played crucial roles. A richer understanding of why enterprises shut down should inform policy to foster the sustainability of informal enterprises.

Day labourers and the role of foreign migrants: for better or for worse?

Derick Blaauw, North-West University on 17 May 2016
Reads 25,066

Foreign migrants often enter informal employment as day labourers. They compete with South Africans for jobs in this curb-side labour market. Three surveys of day labourers working in Tshwane between 2004 and 2015 reveal two important tendencies. First, the foreign-migrant component has increased from 12% to just over 55% in 11 years. Secondly, the wages and the level of poverty of both foreign and South African day labourers have worsened in the same period.

The inequality of space: what to do?

Pippa Green, SALDRU on 15 December 2015
Reads 11,834

South Africa is the most unequal country in the world in terms of people’s income. But, two decades after apartheid’s demise, why has our urban and rural geography changed so little – and how does this reinforce inequality? This was the question at the centre of a recent REDI workshop on spatial inequality that brought together researchers, policymakers, and planners working in both urban and rural spaces.

Tax(i)ing the poor? Implications of our high commuting costs

Andrew Kerr, University of Cape Town on 20 October 2015
Reads 13,441

The time and monetary costs of commuting are extremely high and have increased over the last 20 years. They imply a substantial ‘tax’ on the wages of those who commute to work, notably on the users of public transport. Commuters increasingly use private vehicles and minibus taxis today compared to 1993. The government’s public transport subsidies seem to benefit those in the (lower) middle of the income distribution rather than low-income workers.

Informal settlements: poverty traps or ladders to work?

Ivan Turok, HSRC and University of the Free State respectively on 12 August 2015
Reads 98,610

Informal urban settlements have a poor reputation as hotspots of social unrest, squalor and crime. Yet there is another side to them: as communities that are determined to lift themselves out of poverty via jobs in the city. In a society marked by severe social and spatial inequalities, these places may be useful vehicles for upward mobility. The ambivalence of government policy towards informal settlements needs to be replaced by a more positive approach.

Cape Town’s trade in wild medicines: ecological threat or essential livelihood resource?

Leif Petersen, Sustainable Livelihoods Foundation on 29 January 2014
Reads 17,193

Cape Town is the urban centrepiece of a globally unique and highly diverse natural environment which should take priority in conservation management. But these biological assets also directly serve a local market of over 5 100 traditional healers and herbalists. The author discusses this important informal economy, business and cultural activity in the face of the broadening threats to conservation in the region, and the growing potential tension this presents in terms of policy and management.

Why are foreign-run spaza shops more successful? The rapidly changing spaza sector in South Africa

Rory Liedeman, Sustainable Livelihoods Foundation on 13 November 2013
Reads 99,891

This article examines the contrasting business models in the spaza shop sector, and compares foreign-run businesses with South African businesses. We argue that foreign shop keepers are more successful than South Africans because of the strength of their social networks, which provide them with access to labour and capital and enable collective purchasing and market domination. The article argues for a two-pronged policy that would formalise larger shops whilst permitting and encouraging informal micro and survivalist businesses.

Unlocking the growth and employment potential of business in the margins

Eddie Rakabe, Financial and Fiscal Commission on 13 August 2013
Reads 12,769

Marginalised businesses provide livelihood and income opportunities for a large section of the population. However, these businesses are not able to capture growth opportunities because of several constraints; they continue to operate on the periphery of the mainstream economy. Yet they could become a major source of employment growth. Efforts to unlock this potential must concentrate on exploiting value chains and making government policy more responsive to the unique needs and challenges of marginalised businesses.

The unemployment debate is too fragmented to address the problem

Frederick C.v.N Fourie, University of the Free State on 18 November 2012
Reads 16,090

The debate on unemployment is fragmented into at least three sub-discourses, i.e. those of macroeconomists, labour economists and poverty analysts. This results in inconclusive analyses and narrow, flawed proposals to address the problem. This fragmentation feeds into the policy field. Sustainable and consistent remedies for unemployment and poverty will require an integrated analysis that covers the formal sector, the informal economy and survivalist activities – and especially linkages and barriers between these segments.

How structural inequality limits employment and self-employment in poor areas (or: Why South Africa’s informal sector is so small)

Kate Philip, Advisor to the Presidency on Short-term Strategies for Employment Creation on 16 November 2012
Reads 23,216

Given South Africa’s high levels of unemployment, the relatively small size of the micro-enterprise sector is a conundrum. This article argues that structural inequality is the reason for this – in particular, inequality in the structure of the economy, the legacies of spatial inequality and the continued inequalities in human development. Their combined effect is to limit the scope for poor people to escape poverty via self-employment. This explains the limited extent and small range of informal employment.