The South African government has set a target of reducing unemployment by fifty percent by the year 2014. In order for government to achieve this target, more attention needs to be given to female entrepreneurs. This is due to the fact that women in South Africa make up half the business force and their contributions have not been adequately nurtured. The South African government is aware of the significance that female entrepreneurship has had on the growing economy of the country. As a result, many initiatives have been undertaken by the South African government, including business start-up training and advice as well as mentoring and coaching programmes. Thus, the aim of this study is to critically evaluate the role of female entrepreneurs and their contribution to economic growth in KwaZulu-Natal. The study will further analyse the role played by the South African government in terms of promoting female entrepreneurship, specifically relating to access to finance and training programmes. A ‘snowball’ sample of fifty female entrepreneurs was selected from the central business region of KwaZulu-Natal to complete the questionaire who were in business for more than three years. Data was collected using a questionnaire developed by the researcher. Statistical analysis was conducted on the data in order to reveal whether there were any significant relationships between training programmes instituted by the government and success of the small to medium owned businesses as well as the access to financial support and start-up costs. Research in this study have shown that there are a number of challenges which hindered the growth of female entrepreneurs including shortage of skills, limited access to start-up capital, lack of mentorship and government assistance as well as insufficient family support. Although the government has assisted organisations to assist female entrepreneurs in terms of mentorship and training programmes, more needs to be done in terms of building awareness of these programmes. The government needs to be more proactively involved in the promotion and advertisement of these programmes as well as sponsoring training programmes for women. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2010.

A democratic ―tsunami‖ is moving around the world, nations are embracing democracy which brings power to the people and enables their voices to be heard. South Africa has one of the most progressive Constitutions in the world which contains the Bill of Rights where equality is preached. The Grant Thornton International Business Report on Women in Management (2012) rightly concludes that women occupy only 21% of top managerial positions, worldwide. In South Africa, women occupy only 28%, which is slightly more than the international average. In light of the above information, this study looks at women‘s representation in business, with special emphasis on the challenges faced by women at top management level in public enterprises in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. The inference deduced from the above statistics unveils that women are underrepresented at top management level. Several authors have viewed the challenges faced by women in top level managerial positions from different perspectives and the core challenges this study has identified are as follows: the ‗glass ceiling‘; balancing work and family responsibilities; organisational culture; human resource policies; politics of power and the ‗Queen Bee Syndrome‘. This study has unveiled a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by women employed in top level managerial positions, useful in enabling women at this level to overcome their challenges and thereby assist them to function to their utmost capacity, while at the same time attempting to increase women‘s representation at top management level. The researcher adopted a mixed method of data collection in carrying out this study. In-depth interviews were carried out with respondents; the insight gained in these interviews assisted the researcher to carry out further telephonic interviews with other respondents and lastly; questionnaires were employed to complement other sources of data collection in the study. These findings of the study show that the ills of Apartheid could be responsible for the lack of self-confidence of black women holding top level managerial positions. In the researcher‘s point of view, the Bantu system of education did not provide a sound foundation of quality education for the black women of Pietermaritzburg. In conclusion, the thesis argues that, since women constitute a significant proportion of the economically active population in South Africa, it is fair only that they should be equitably represented at top managerial level. To achieve this goal, the study proffered a recommendation which has managerial benefits that may assist in accelerating and increasing women‘s representation at top management level. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.