The South African government is faced with tremendous pressure to address the high unemployment and poverty rate in the country. One of the strategies that have been adopted by the government for job creation is promoting start-up of new small businesses and supporting the existing small businesses to ensure their sustainability. Small businesses are perceived as an instrument for job creation and will contribute to the economic growth and development of the country. Due to a high failure rate of small businesses in the business sector it was necessary to carryout this study, to explore and understand all the key factors that affect the growth of small businesses with the objective of analysing findings and providing possible recommendations. This research study used data extracted from eThekwini electricity and PMB municipality electrical contractors' databases. A survey was conducted on a sample of small black electrical contractors in the vicinity of Durban and Pietermaritzburg areas, with the use of questionnaires. The quantitative data was captured and analyzed using the statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The study was able to identify problems or challenges encountered by small black electrical contractors. According to the survey the root cause of failure to acquire finance by small businesses was that they lack skills drafting and providing financial plans, financial statements, financial projections and the required collaterals and securities. The results received from the questionnaire survey were presented and analyzed. The analysis included an examination of the overall profile of the sample and a determination of whether or not there was any significant lack of transparency. It looked at participation aspects of small black electrical contractors, which account for differences in responses to the questionnaires. The study recommended that Government should provide a legal framework with a specified focus on regulating the extent South African Revenues Services (SARS) practises its powers on small businesses. Instead of closing down the small business that fails to pay tax in time, SARS should provide assistance to ensure the sustainability of those small businesses. SARS' penalties and interest on tax owed should be reduced and there should be a limit on accumulating interests and penal ties, or small business may fail to ever settle debt. / Thesis (M.B.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

This work encompasses an inquiry into the role of the entrepreneur in economic development, and a report of interviews with eighty African businessmen in the Transkei, Ciskei and some urban locations. South Africa provides a particularly interesting field for the study of African enterprise insofar as it is possible to examine the evolution of entrepreneurship in two fundamentally different environments - namely rural reserves and large urban areas. Furthermore, there has been a substantial increase in the number of African entrepreneurs during this century. The study achieves added significance in view of the wide racial income differentials which are an endemic feature of South African socio-economic existence; moreover, there is a great deal of evidence to suggest that, despite the high real growth rates during recent years, the racial income gap is widening. A corollary to this is the worsening of the relative - though not necessarily the absolute - economic position of the Black population. Hence : "the fundamental question for South Africa's economic future revolves around the income relationship between the Whites and the African segment of the non- White group." At present a great deal of pressure is being exerted on White employers to adopt more racially equitable systems of remuneration, and on the Government to relax the industrial colour bar. Although such measures would probably have a positive influence in preventing the gap from widening still further, there is reason to believe that their effectiveness would be limited. The justifications for this assertion are twofold: a) As Allister Sparks has pointed out, "as long as (Blacks) are limited to being hirelings of (Whites), their progress will necessarily remain stunted. Because of race prejudice they will not be promoted as readily as Whites of equal ability. There will not be Black managers and company directors. They will be held down by a vicious circle of disadvantages: prejudice will deprive them of promotion, which will deprive them of experience, which will provide the pretext for not promoting them. b) There is much convincing evidence to show that property ownership rather than wages is the basic factor determining income distribution. Information indicative of the extreme racial inequality of property ownership in South Africa is given by Spandau, who has shown that in 1960 'other income' (i. e. rent, interest and profits) formed 119% of work income of Whites, and only 19% of the work income of Africans. 2 In the absence of cataclysmic social change, the development of African entrepreneurial talent emerges as a possible means of escaping from this apparent impasse. This does not of course imply that even a fairly large increase in the number of African entrepreneurs would automatically result in raising the living standards of a substantial portion of the Black population. Nevertheless, it would represent a positive move towards redressing the inequalities in property ownership and facilitate the acquisition of organizational skills, which in turn implies a better utilization of human resources than exists at present.

Bibliography: pages 316-351. / In both scholarly and popular literature on the South African business sector, a high premium is commonly placed on the role of business in promoting political reform. This study investigated the perceived extent of such influence on political and socio-political aspects of public policy in the period 1978 to 1989. Using the "elite" and "group" approaches in Political Science as a point of departure, the perceptions of government and business elites in this regard, in particular the perceptions of the Afrikaner business elite, were analysed. Data from the government elite was gathered by means of postal questionnaires, and the business elite's input was obtained via interviews. The government elite's attitude towards, and perceptions of, interest groups were examined in the light of the premise that the latter's influence is largely determined by their legitimacy in the eyes of the decision-makers. These attitudes were established by moving from an assessment of the government elite's general perception of interest groups, to more specific perceptions of, amongst others, the business sector's access to decision-makers, and their perceived influence. The second part of the study primarily focused on the perceptions of the Afrikaner business elite vis-a-vis the influence of the business community on various dimensions of public policy. It was found that the government elite's attitude towards the existence of interest groups was largely dependent on the latter's utility with regard to the implementation and maintenance of policy, via mainly "positive" and "constructive" research. Government perceptions confirmed that several elite groups exercised specific influence on various dimensions of public policy. The Afrikaanse Handelsinstituut (AHI), for example, was found to have the greatest influence on economic policy formulation, whereas the Afrikaner Broederbond and the Dutch Reformed Church exercise more significant influence on socio- political policy than the AHI. Apart from these traditional Afrikaner elite-groups, the "insiders" were found to include those whose economic ideologies, amongst other variables, were reconcilable with those of government Due to the fact that the National Party was compelled to enlarge its power base in the early 1980s, certain English business organisations such as ASSOCOM and the FCI and the black political organization, lnkatha, have to some extent, been included as "insiders" despite divergent political convictions or cultural differences. Both the government elite and the business elite felt, however that the Afrikaner businessmen and their organizations still retained the decisive influence on aspects of economic and socio-political decision-making. With regard to political decision-making, that is the forms of state, government and authority, the business elite did not express a desire to have a role in this arena. The government elite, on the other hand, was prepared to grant the business sector a role in this regard, on the condition that business input exercised a reactive legitimising role to their policy, rather than initiating change.

Thesis (PhD)-- Stellenbosch University, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study is a biography of Sir David Pieter de Villiers Graaff, Bt, of Cape Town, who was born in 1859 and died in 1931. It covers his whole life span, from his birth as a poor farm boy in the district of Villiersdorp until his death as one of South Africa’s most innovative businessmen after he also distinguished himself in a political career. As the pioneer of cold storage in South Africa he brought the practice of frozen meat and food to the country at the end of the nineteenth century and in the meat trade he built up one of the biggest business undertakings in the Southern Hemisphere. As mayor of Cape Town at the youthful age of 31 he played a decisive rol in the modernisation of the city. As a member of Genl. Louis Botha’s first Cabinet after Union in 1910, a defining event which laid down the borders of the present Republic of South Africa, he played a sometimes underestimated role in the development of the country and its economy after the tribulations and long-term effects of the Anglo-Boer War. The life of this complex businessman/politician, a Cape Afrikaner who as a bachelor at an advanced age received a hereditary British title and thereafter married the daughter of the dominee of his Dutch Reformed congegation, is also a fascinating example of the difficult choices which Cape Afrikaners in colonial times had to make between loyalty to the British Crown and commitment to the native soil of South Africa. His biography furthermore offers an insight into the role of a top business leader who enters politics, a facet which has received little coverage in South African historial research. By describing the mosaic of his life in the time span in which he was a prominent figure, it was endeavoured to cast more light on the social and cultural context of an epoch-making period, thereby seeking to contribute to a nuanced understanding of the South African past. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie is ‘n biografie van sir David Pieter de Villiers Graaff, die baronet van Kaapstad wat in 1859 gebore en in 1931 oorlede is. Dit dek sy hele lewensloop, van sy geboorte-uur as arm plaasseun in die distrik van Villiersdorp totdat hy as een van Suid-Afrika se innoverendste sakemanne gesterf het nadat hy hom ook in ‘n politieke loopbaan onderskei het. As die pionier van koelbewaring in Suid-Afrika het hy teen die einde van die negentiende eeu die verkoeling van vleis en voedsel op groot skaal na die land gebring en in die vleisbedryf een van die grootste sakeondernemings in die Suidelike Halfrond opgebou. As burgemeester van Kaapstad op die jeugdige ouderdom van 31 het hy ‘n deurslaggewende bydrae tot die modernisering van die stad gelewer. As lid van genl. Louis Botha se eerste Kabinet na Uniewording in 1910, ‘n bepalende gebeurtenis waardeur die landsgrense van die huidige Republiek van Suid-Afrika vasgelê is, het hy ‘n soms onderskatte rol in die opgang van die land en die landsekonomie na die beproewinge en langtermyn-gevolge van die Anglo-Boere-oorlog gespeel. Die lewensverhaal van hierdie komplekse sakeleier-politikus, ‘n Kaapse Afrikaner wat as vrygesel op gevorderde leeftyd ‘n erflike Britse titel ontvang het en daarna met die dogter van die leraar van sy NG gemeente getroud is, is boonop ‘n boeiende voorbeeld van die moeilike keuses wat Kaapse Afrikaners in koloniale tye tussen trou aan die Britse Ryk en verankering in die Suid- Afrikaanse bodem moes maak. Sy lewensverhaal bied voorts insig in die rol van ‘n top-sakeman wat tot die aktiewe politiek toetree, ‘n faset wat in die Suid-Afrikaanse geskiedskrywing nog weinig ontgin is. Deur die mosaïek van sy lewe uit te beeld in die tydsgewrig waarin hy ‘n prominente figuur was, is gepoog om ook meer lig op die maatskaplike en kulturele konteks van daardie epogmakende tydperk te werp en sodoende ‘n genuanseerde begrip van die Suid- Afrikaanse verlede te bevorder.

The South African businessman, Brand Pretorius, was born in the rural Orange Free State town of Steynsrus in 1953. Pretorius rose to prominence in the motor industry in South Africa and he retired in 2011 as Chairman of McCarthy Motor Holdings Limited the largest motor retailer in South Africa. Pretorius was selected for this psychobiographical study by means of purposive sampling, given his extraordinary business achievements. Pretorius is publicly recognised as one of South Africa’s most successful businessmen and leaders. Psychobiographical research typically takes into consideration the entire life of an individual with the aim of uncovering the story of an individual’s life through the lens of a particular theory. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the leadership development of Brand Pretorius juxtaposed against the model of authentic leadership proposed by Avolio and Luthans (2003). The life history of Brand Pretorius was studied using a qualitative single-case study design. The psychobiographical research method allowed the single-case to be studied spanning his entire career. Data was collected from both primary and secondary sources. Conceptual matrices were used to organise and integrate the findings against the model of authentic leadership. The use of multiple data sources increased the validity and reliability of the research process and findings. To ensure ethical integrity the researcher obtained informed consent from Pretorius. The findings of this research study indicate that Pretorius was able to successfully display the authentic leadership dimensions of self-awareness, internalised moral perspective, balanced processing, relational transparency and positive psychological capacities throughout the course of his career.