It is widely accepted by governments of many developing countries that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is crucial to the socio-economic development of their nations and have developed various policies in an effort to attract FDI, as a result. FDI is a crucial source of technology, capital and skills for developing countries for economic growth that may ultimately lead to poverty reduction, employment creation and modernisation. However, results from many studies have been inconclusive and have failed to find a direct link between the increase of FDI and the associated socio-economic development of recipient nations. South Africa is no exception to this debate as it seeks to turn its back on decades long apartheid, which has entrenched poverty in the majority of its population and exacerbated social tensions. The main socio-economic challenges that South Africa faces include high unemployment, skills shortages, poverty and high inequality, and the 2008/2009 global financial and economic crisis has exacerbated the crisis. Despite these challenges South Africa‘s macro-economic strategies have had a good reputation since 2000. The monetary policy has turned out to be more transparent and predictable, and a sound fiscal policy has sustained its framework. The study analyses the role that FDI plays in the socio-economic development of South Africa since 1995 by focusing on selected case studies: ABSA Bank, General Motors South Africa (GMSA) and the Mining Sector of South Africa. The research concludes that although ABSA Bank has implemented several corporate social responsibility (CSR), and various employee development programmes, there is hardly any evidence to suggest that Barclays Bank‘s takeover of ABSA Bank has positively impacted on these programmes. General Motors South Africa (GMSA), which came into South Africa many decades ago through a Greenfield Investment, has played a positive role in the economy of the Eastern Cape Province as well as that of South Africa, having created jobs directly and indirectly. The company has also designed and implemented various educational, housing as well as health and awareness programmes for its employees and for the communities. Mining companies that operate in South Africa formed partnerships in the communities in which they operate in an effort to improve the lives of people. While these various projects have been a source of employment, they have had a limited impact on the core causes of social problems surrounding the mines. Many of these root causes relate to core business practices of the mining companies, especially employee recruitment, wages and housing. These root causes where witnessed in the Lonmin tragedy and in other strikes that spread throughout the sector in 2012. The study concludes that although FDI does play a role in the socio-economic development of South Africa, especially Greenfield investment, the same argument could not be made on Mergers and acquisitions (M&As). Finally, the South African government needs to play a proactive role in ensuring that foreign companies that invest in the country need to be well aware of the socio-economic needs of South Africa, and be willing to play a positive role in that regard.

D.Litt et Phil. / The number of slums and squatter settlements is rising globally; this is recognised as a significant problem as many of the urban poor find housing in these settlements. With the expanding slum settlements comes a serious problem for many developing nations, that of finding a mechanism to improve these informal developments. These settlements are a symptom of poor urban governance and lack of financial resources causing the urban poor to be pushed into these dwellings and find themselves on the periphery of urban society, not only geographically but socially, economically and legally. Upgrading, integration and legalisation of these housing types is necessary if these peripheral suburbs are to be developed formally. Although many governments have tried top-down approaches of upgrade, these approachs have often failed to produce results as slum upgrades often lead to displacement of the original inhabitants who are ousted into areas even further to the periphery of urban centres. This thesis looks at alternatives to viewing settlements on the urban fringe as a quandary, by using a neoliberal theoretical framework (despite its many flaws), informal property markets in townships in Johannesburg, South Africa can be seen as a catalyst for wealth creation and local economic development. This is particularly important given the historical context of apartheid in South Africa and the segregation of the majority of the population into racially exclusive slums. The post-apartheid government has rallied to improve the lives of this group of poor and dispossessed people with the provision of decent housing a key aspect of this process. A neoliberal framework for economic development was embarked upon in South Africa, with the introduction of neoliberal economic policy (namely GEAR) in 1998, South Africa embarked on a process of reform to encourage market growth. This manifest itself in the ‘Breaking New Ground’ housing policy which adopted a neoliberal stance on Housing provision, and although not removing the role of government in providing low-cost housing, it strives for a market driven housing solution. With a shortage of over 1 million houses in the city, there should be every potential market orientated low-cost housing sector, yet capital within this property sector is often referred to as dead capital with no intrinsic value. This thesis challenges that view by determining the existence of Crisylida capital in township property assets. Crisylida capital is virgining capital in the low-cost property market that could lead to the accumulation of asset capital within this property group, estimated value of Crisylida capital in Johannesburg alone is R6.3 billion. Residents in low-cost housing in Township suburbs in Johannesburg recognise economic value in their dwelling, with only 21% of participants valuing their property at less than R10 000. Further, real estate agents working the township real estate market estimate that just over 50% of properties in these areas are valued at over R200 000. Within this property environment, security of tenure plays an important role in creating not only wealth creation but equally a sense of community ownership. Houses with tenure saw 37% of respondents interested or actively participating in community projects, this compared to 13% of respondents without tenure. This thesis points to a new understanding of low-cost property in Johannesburg, South Africa as a potential market worth billions of Rands that could inject wealth into the hands of marginalised communities. This in turn could assist in fostering sustainable socio-economic urban community within disenfranchised township suburbs.

Thesis (M.Sc. Agriculture (Agricultural Economics) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / Agriculture has long been argued to be the dominant sector of the South African economy. Despite the huge agricultural potential of the country, the agricultural sector is underperforming in Less Developing Countries (LDCs) to some extent because female small-scale farmers, who play a vital role in agriculture, encounter credit constraints because of their gender and this in turn reduce their productivity. Therefore, the gender gap in terms of access to credit indicates that there is a need to reassess the problem of credit access by small-scale farmers on the basis of gender. This study was carried out in the Greater Letaba Municipality (GLM) which is situated in the Mopani District of Limpopo Province, with the aim of analysing factors that influence formal credit access by both female and male small-scale farmers. Structured questionnaires were employed to collect the data for the analyses from 140 sampled small-scale farmers (70 males and 70 females) selected using stratified random sampling technique. The findings of the probit regression model discovered that gender, extension services, land ownership, age, collateral and farm size had a significant positive influence on small-scale farmers` access to formal credit in the GLM. Additionally, the findings further revealed that household size, farming experience, farm-income, marital status had an insignificant negative influence on the small-scale farmers` access to formal credit whereas education level had an insignificant positive influence on the small-scale farmers` access to formal credit. On average, male and female small-scale farmers with access to formal credit were 71 % and 29 %, respectively whereas the male and female small-scale farmers without access to formal credit were 35% and 65%, respectively. The female small-scale farmers` perceptions towards the credit system that were derived from the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) are as follows: (i) male smallscale farmers effortlessly get credit from banks contrasted with their female counterparts, (ii) small-scale farmers with more education and collateral tend to access formal credit than their counterparts and (iii) small-scale farmers who are nearest to iii the banks are more likely to access credit than small-scale farmers who are far away. Based on the study findings, a set of recommendations for achieving equitable formal credit access by male and female small-scale farmers were put forward. / National Research Fund (NRF)

Thesis submitted to the Department of Political Studies, University of the Witwatersrand in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, 2018 / Successful East Asian developmental states achieved remarkable growth in a short space of time. They intervened in their economies and also built constructive relations with business and the capitalists class. South Africa has similarly committed itself to building a developmental state and its local governments have a developmental mandate. However, local governments in South Africa suffer from a plethora of problems. In the constellation of local governments, cities occupy a different position and possess the potential to play a developmental role. The City of Johannesburg is one such city. Its developmental approach including its effort to build relations with business since the dawn of the democratic era, are examined in this thesis. The results present a mixed picture. While positive city-business relations existed, these were not deeply embedded. This was epitomised by the lack of pervasive city-wide feelings of developmental solidarity and narrow agendas that animated city-business relations. However, in line with developmental state theory, especially the twenty-first century kind that not only focuses on growth but also redistribution, the city managed to make certain positive strides. On the anti-developmental side though, the quality of its business-related growth-enhancing services such as investment-attraction lagged behind. Unlike East Asian developmental states, the city also appeared to lack the ability to significantly determine the direction of development, especially investment by the private sector. Overall, the case of Johannesburg reveals the difficulty of emulating East Asian developmental states, especially the challenge of forging lasting city-business relations against the backdrop of informal segregation and huge inherited disparities. / XL2019

This thesis focuses on land reform in post-apartheid South Africa and specifically on land redistribution, as one of the main pillars of land reform. There have been many studies undertaken on land redistribution in South Africa and these studies offer deep criticisms of the prevailing land redistribution model (a market-led, but state-assisted model) and the ways in which this model has failed to meaningfully address colonial dispossession of land. Further, studies have focused on post-redistribution livelihoods of farmers and the many challenges they face. One significant gap in the prevailing literature is a sustained focus on the state itself, and particularly questions around policy formation and implementation processes pertaining to land redistribution. Delving into policy processes is invariably a difficult task because outsider access to intra-state processes is fraught with problems. But a full account of land redistribution in South Africa demands sensitivity to processes internal to the state. Because of this, it is hoped that this thesis makes a contribution to the existing South African land redistribution literature. In pursuing the thesis objective, I undertook research amongst farmers on selected redistributed farms outside Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape, as well as engaging with both current and former state land officials. Based on the evidence, it is clear that the policy process around land in South Africa is a complex and convoluted process marked not only by consensus-making and combined activities but also by tensions and conflicts. This, I would argue, is the norm with regard to what states do and how they work.

Thesis (M. Tech. Marketing) -- Central University of Technology, Free state, 2011 / In this study, the researcher employed literature review and an empirical study to: * Establish the effect of consumer behaviour on the expansion of the small, medium and micro manufacturing enterprises (SMMEs) in Welkom. * Determine the marketing strategies adopted by the manufacturing SMMEs in Welkom. The Government of South Africa (SA) enacted the Small Business Act to assist small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) to contribute to job creation in SA (Lotter, 2009: 53). Furthermore, the government established the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) in an effort to relate more closely to the SMMEs, so that they could contribute more meaningfully to the economy of the country by creating employment. In addition, the Umsobomvu Youth Fund and Youth Commission were established by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to assist young entrepreneurs financially and non-financially to start and run sustainable small enterprises (South Africa. National Small Business Act 102, 1996: 3). However, significant research done on SMMEs in SA found that they had made no meaningful contribution to job creation. This problem was in fact so serious that most SMMEs were shutting down, a problem which included SMMEs situated in Welkom (Lotter, 2009: 53). This research project therefore sought to investigate the possible sources of this shutdown of manufacturing SMMEs in Welkom. Many other researchers had investigated possible causes such as the effect of the lack of business management skills, the closure of local gold mines, etc. However, the effect of consumer behaviour (CB) as the possible source of this shutdown problem had not been investigated; hence, this researcher chose to investigate the effect of CB on the development of the manufacturing SMMEs in Welkom. The research design firstly identified the manufacturing SMMEs as the population for the study and the sample subjects as their top managers and supervisors. The mixed method was employed. The researcher used literature studies, the qualitative approach and the quantitative approach as the mixed method. Data collecting instruments were the personal interview and self administered questionnaires. The researcher employed the random sampling method and, in particular the systematic sampling method, to select the respondents. A letter of permission was obtained from the Matjhabeng municipality to conduct this research project and the subjects were given letters of assurance for ethical consideration. The aim of using literature studies was to determine the relevant model for this research study and to determine the findings of earlier researchers on this topic. The model was the theoretical foundation on which the research project was based. The model determined from the literature studies indicated that CB was influenced by internal and external factors. Examples of internal factors included perception, attitudes, learning, personality, and beliefs etc., while examples of external factors included family, marketing communication, friends, economic factors, etc. This model underpinned the empirical research conducted, and the interview and questionnaire items were based on the influencing factors outlined by this model. The empirical research was conducted to relevant collect data that could assist to answers the following research questions: * What are the effects of CB on the expansion of the manufacturing SMMEs in Welkom? * What are the growth strategies adopted by the manufacturing SMMEs in Welkom? Interviews with top managers were recorded on voice recorder and supervisors completed questionnaires. Qualitative data were transcribed from the voice recordings, themes were developed from the transcripts and descriptive statistics were used to analyse the themes. Data from the quantitative method were analysed through the social package for social sciences (SPSS), employing descriptive statistics to determine the findings. The analysis for quantitative data was represented by cumulative frequency distribution tables for each option of the questionnaire items, while the analysis for qualitative data was represented on a template for data coding and also compressed into frequency tables. The study‟s findings both from literature studies and from empirical research revealed that negative attitude, economic situation, cultural changes and improved education level of consumers resulted in non development of the manufacturing SMMEs in Welkom. The interview with the top managers further revealed that there was lack of specific marketing strategies adopted by the managers. Therefore, it was shown in this study that the effect of CB on the development of the manufacturing SMMEs in Welkom was non development.

This study was undertaken to explore the barriers to the sustainability of the spaza shops in Atteridgeville (wards, 51, 62, 63, 68, 71 and 72) and to identify the support strategies necessary to assist these shops to grow into sustainable businesses. The study was motivated by the role and contributions of these stores in creating jobs for the majority of the previously disadvantaged people, particularly in the black township areas of South Africa. The study was exploratory, descriptive and qualitative in nature. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to obtain data from 18 spaza shop owners. The findings from the research indicated the following barriers to be responsible for the failure of the spaza shops: lack of financial support, lack of business management skills, expensive transportation, limited trading space, crime, negative competition among spaza shop owners, and lack of cooperatives among spaza shop owners. The study recommends that spaza shop owners should ensure that they have enough savings before embarking on business and that they should also attend training in business management to equip themselves. Spaza shop owners also need to establish collaborative ventures among themselves to enable them to voice their concerns as a collective, rather than as individuals. Government, in partnership with private sector, should improve the effectiveness of its support strategies, for example by assisting spaza shops in forming cooperatives and facilitating training in business skills. It is also recommended that the government, through the Department of Trade and Industry, should continue to find out better ways to aid these stores financially. It is the researcher’s opinion that if these recommendations are followed, they could lead to the success of these stores. / Development Studies / M. A. (Development Studies)

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study project aims to investigate economic progress in South Africa through exploring the economic history in both the pre-1994 and post-1994 period. Special emphasis is placed on the areas of poverty alleviation, employment creation as well as the economic success that the country wishes to achieve. South Africa, as a developing nation, faced many key challenges after 1994 and together with these internal problems, the global operating environment was rapidly changing and this needed to be factored in. After ten years of democracy, it is important to examine what progress has been made and determine if South Africa is indeed on the path to prosperity. In establishing this, the author starts by defining the key issues that deserve consideration within the topic and sets a standard framework around which the topic will be studied. South Africa is not the first country in the world to experience related challenges and it is useful to examine some selected economies in the world, to extract key learning points as well as offer a means of benchmarking how South Africa compares. It is essential that the context and nature of the problems that exist currently be understood through an investigation of the past. The solutions that ultimately are applied to eradicate these problems must successfully address the inherited legacy or the solutions will be short term and inadequate. Much has happened after 1994 and this is examined both from a macroeconomic as well as the socioeconomic perspective. In determining whether South Africa remains on the correct trajectory, the key learning points are integrated with the progress made to date. The identified shortcomings are then presented as recommendations. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die studie mik om ekonomiese vordering in Suid-Afrika deur die bestudering van ekonomiese geskiedenis in beide die voor-en na-1994 tydperk te ondersoek. Spesiale klem is geplaas in areas van verligting van armoede, werkskepping sowel as ekonomiese sukses wat die land na streef. Suid-Afrika, as 'n ontwikkelende land, staar baie sleutel uitdagings na 1994 in die gesig en tesame met die interne probleme, het die globale funksionele omgewing vinnig verander en moes dit in ag geneem word . Na tien jaar van demokrasie, is dit belangrik om ondersoek in te stel na watter vordering gemaak was en vas te stel of Suid-Afrika inderdaad op pad is na positiewe groei. Deur dit vas te stel, het die skrywer begin om sleutel fokuspunte, binne die onderwerp wat verdien om in ag geneem te word, te definieer, en plaas 'n standaard raamwerk rondom die betrokke onderwerp wat bestudeer moet word. Suid-Afrika is nie die eerste land in die wereld om soortgelyke uitdagings te ondervind nie, en dit is prakties om sommige geselekteerde ekonomieë in die wereld te bestudeer, ten einde belangrike punte en mikpunte oor hoe Suid-Afrika vergelyk uit te beeld. Dit is noodsaaklik dat die konteks en natuur van die probleme huidiglik, verstaan word, deur die verlede te ondersoek. Die oplossings wat toegepas word moet suksesvol die nagelate erfenis addresseer, of die oplossings kortermyn en onvoldoende sal wees. Baie het gebeur na 1994 en dit is beide van 'n makro-ekonomiese sowel as die sosio-ekonomiese perspektief ondersoek. Om vas te stel of Suid-Afrika op die regte koers is, word die sleutel punte geintegreer met die vordering tot op datum. Die geidentifiseerde tekortkomminge word voorgelê as aanbevelings.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: China has experienced phenomenal economic growth over the past 20 years and has developed from a pure socialist economy into a market driven economy_ However the transfonnation process is not yet complete. China has a pegged currency system (this was the case up until 2110712005) that is coupled to the US dollar. The result of this was that their currency fluctuated much less than other developing country currencies and hence became a very attractive investment destination. In addition to this labour in China is very cheap and access to economies of scale is available. But despite the many positive aspects of the Chinese economy there are also a number of elements that have very negative consequences for the economy and need to be addressed if China wishes to create prosperity for all its citizens. The value of the yuan has been a topic of great contention, and there are very different opinions as to what the currency value should be. After careful consideration of the various options available to China it was assessed that it would be highly detrimental for China to suddenly free float its currency. However it is essential for China to gradually liberate their monetary system so as to create more monetary autonomy. To ensure that liberalization is done in an orderly and non~djsruptjve way, it is important that China refonns other aspects of its economy (such as its banking system, its unprofitable state owned enterprises, its need for energy, income inequality, the protection of intellectual property, its legal system, worker rights and growing unemployment). South Africa, as an emerging economy, also faces a number of challenges to create more opportunities for its people (of whom many are still living in poverty). Obstacles to economic growth include the effects of HN and AIDS, low productivity, discrepancy between the available and the needed skills, unemployment, crime and so forth. A number of positive aspects also exist that need to be harnessed more creatively to ensure that South Africans reap the rewards of sustained economic development. However, it is important that all the people in the economy (i.e. government, business, communities and NGOs) work together to create a positive business environment. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: China het indrukwekkende ekonomiese groei oor die afgelope 20 jaar ervaar en het ontwikkel van 'n sosiale ekonomie tot 'n markgedrewe ekonomie. Die transforrnasie proses is egter nog nie voltooi nie. China het 'n gekoppelde geldeenheid (dit was die geval tot en met 21107/2005) wat aan die Amerikaanse dollar gekoppel was. Die resultaat was dat hulle geldeenheid minder gefluktueer het as ander ontwikkelende ekonomiee, en China het dus 'n gesogte beleggingsoord geword. Daarmee saam is die koste van arbeid in China baie goedkoop en kan daar van skaalvoordele gebruik gemaak word. Maar ten spyte van die positiewe aspekte. is daar ook 'n aantal elemente wat baie negatiewe gevolge vir die ekonomie inhou en wat aangespreek moet word as China voorspoed vir al sy landsburgers wil verseker. Die waarde van die Chinese yuan is die afgelope paar jaar 'n onderwerp van omstredenheid gewees wat baie verskillende opinies oor die werklike waarde van die eenheid tot gevolg gehad het. Na die oorweging van die verskeie opsies wat beskikbaar is vir China, is bevind dat 'n skielike vrystelling van die yuan baie negatiewe effekte op die ekonomie sal hê. Maar dit is belangrik dat China weI hul geldeenheid geleidelik liberaliseer sodat die regering meer outonomiteit kan hê (in terme van monetere besluitneming). Om te verseker dat die liberalisering op 'n ordelike en nie-ontwrigtende manier sal plaasvind nie, is dit belangrik dat daar ook liberalisering plaasvind in ander areas van die ekonomie (soos die bankstelsel, die nie-winsgewende staatsbeheerde besighede, die gebruik van energie, inkomste ongelykheid, die beskenning van intellektuele eiendom, die regstelsel, werkersregte en die groeiende werkloosheid). Suid-Afrika, as 'n ontluikende ekonomie, het ook 'n aantal uitdagings wat oorkorn moet word indien volhoubare ekonomiese groei behaal wil word. Hindemisse tot ekonomiese groei sluit in MIV en VIGS, lae produktiwiteit, die wanverhouding tussen benodigde en beskikbare vaardighede, werkloosheid, misdaad en ander sosiale probleme. Daarteenoor is daar wel baie positiewe aspekte wat meer effektief benut moet word om groei te dryf. Dit is ook baie belangrik dat al die kernpelers in die ekonomie hul kant bring (dus die regering, georganiseerde besigheid, werkers, werkloses en gemeenskapsorganisasies).

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2006. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This research report aims to create a profile of the South African Black Consumer Market through an analysis of past and present social and political factors which have contributed to its evolution. The black African segment of the South African population is by far the largest segment in the market, comprising nearly 80% of the total population. This market was characterised by a history of turmoil and oppression under the Apartheid regime. This report explores the history of the black South African population, and the relationship of the past, to the formation of current characteristics inherent to this segment. Real Statistical data from the 2001 census, as well as relevant market measurement tools, are used to create a figurative representation of the composition and structure of the black South African population. The statistical data is then married to in-depth market analyses with the aim being the creation of an understanding of the key factors which form the construct of this market. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie studieprojek is om 'n pretiel van die swart Suid-Afrikaanse verbruikersmark te skep deur n analise van historiese en huidige sasiale en politiese faktore wat bygedra het tot die mark se evolusie. Suid-Afrika se swart bevolkingsegment is verreweg die grootste marksegment in die land, bestaande uit meer as 80% van die totale populasie. Die mark is gekenmerk deur n geskiedenis gehul in konflik en oppressie as gevolg van die Apartheidsregering van die verlede. Hierdie projek ondersoek die geskiedenis van die swart Suid-Afrikaanse populasie in terme van die verlede met betrekking tot die formasie van huidige karaktereienskappe wat die segment kenmerk. Statistiese data van die 2001 sensus sowel as relevante mark metingsinstrumente word dan gebruik om n figuratiewe voorstelling van die samestelling van die swart Suid Afrikaanse populasie te maak. Die statistiese data word dan vergelyk met indiepte mark analise met die doel om die kernfaktore wat die mark vorm, te kan begryp.