The main focus of this study was to perform an assessment of viable and sustainable means of creating a vibrant and sustainable economy in the Mdantsane Township. In order to perform the assessment objectives were formulated which aimed at assessing whether the informal small business sector of Mdantsane was generating wealth and livelihoods for the people running them. The study also looked at whether the informal business sector is a preferred option by most South Africans or people in the townships would rather seek employment. A number of data collection methods were used in completing this study such as literature reviews and a semi-structured questionnaire. The study revealed that Local Economic development can be implemented in the townships in order to assist in stimulating a vibrant local township economy. The study also revealed that the central focus of Local Economic Development is to support the development, growth and retention of private or co-operative enterprises. The survey conducted in the study further revealed that most businesses in the township are driven by necessity in order for them to start their businesses mainly due to unemployment. These businesses all agreed on the significant role that Local Economic Development can play in assisting township entrepreneurs and communities to grow and prosper.

An increasing amount of attention is paid by the media, and political and business leaders to national competitiveness indices. As globalisation increases and the difficulties of the financial crisis linger on, leaders look towards global benchmarks such as the World Economic Forum‟s Global Competitiveness Index to make policy and resource allocation decisions. Despite this emphasis on national competitiveness, how this translates to economic growth prospects is not well understood, and a universally accepted economic growth model continues to elude macroeconomists. The research seeks to understand whether a more detailed assessment of the Global Competitiveness Index‟s twelve competitiveness pillars can improve its explanatory power for economic growth, by investigating patterns of competitiveness performance from both static and dynamic perspectives. Data was collated over the period 2007-2013 for 118 countries. A hierarchical cluster analysis was performed to segment countries according to homogeneous competitiveness patterns, followed by stepwise multiple regression modelling on the total sample and the resulting clusters in order to assess impacts on adjusted R-squared values. Regressions were performed on stock and flow values for twelve country competitiveness variables. The results show that the cluster analysis coupled with the specified multiple regression models significantly improved the explanatory power of the selected competitiveness variables on economic growth, except for the least competitive countries, where further research is needed to uncover their true drivers of competitiveness. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / lmgibs2014 / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / MBA / Unrestricted

The study is looking at poverty alleviation initiatives in Amathole district, the case of Gqushwa local Municipality. The study is looking at the issue of consultation and support that government is offering to the beneficiaries when they are involved in the poverty alleviation projects. The right to food is a human rights issue as enshrined in the constitution of the South Africa on the other hand the policies and legislation of the county also backs the development and establishment of such initiatives. Amongst the findings of the study the following points are very key, establishment of the projects, the contribution that these projects have on the lives of the project members, members remaining poverty stricken even though they have 5 years or more participating in the project, most of the time there is no ownership from the community members and lastly the leadership of the community not showing interest in the projects even though they enhance accessibility to resources like poultry and vegetable gardens. In other instances, they indicated that the projects do not show good returns.

A country’s performance is commonly measured by its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The Gross Domestic Product in Developing Countries (DCs) can be seen confusing and unbalanced, with regular and unconditional falls and booms. This study aims at examining the factors that affect the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Developing Countries (DCs) whereby South Africa is being selected as a representative. An econometric analysis of the Keynesian model is adopted to test the South African Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over a decade (10 years). The methodology conducted uses quarterly time series data from the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) where the South African Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is modelled as a function of consumption expenditure, domestic investment, government spending and export/import of the country. This is in order to determine which of these factors best explain South African economic growth dynamics. The variables in the model are tested for stationary and the result shows that the variables become stationary at 1st difference, except for consumption which become stationary at 2nd difference. The Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) results confirm that consumption, investment, government spending and net export all have a positive impact on Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The findings suggest that the South African Gross Domestic Product is mainly influenced by consumption, followed by investment. In the recommendation context, the study recommends that South Africa should continue to maintain price stability while at the same time endeavour to attract more investment to the country. Moreover, Developing Countries need to maintain a fiscal discipline without necessarily losing sight of the international dynamics. For further areas of studies, the study recommends more analysis on macroeconomic policies that are comprehensive and can cover all aspects related to the Keynesian model of economic growth. Finally, it is necessary to remind that the findings and recommendations drawn from the study are limited to the concept of South Africa and are based only on the results from the empirical analysis conducted.

South Africa is endowed with a well-developed and regulated financial system which compares favourably with those of other developed economies. Therefore the financial sector is intended to play a significant role in supporting the real economy, by enhancing trade and stimulating economic growth and development. Despite the existence of a stable, developed and well-regulated financial sector, the South African economy has experienced current account deficits for the past 10 years and economic growth rates have mostly trailed behind the targets prescribed by the socio-economic programs formulated and implemented since 1994. To solve the trade – financial development – economic growth nexus problem, most studies have focused on other countries while research studies on South Africa did not explicitly investigate the trade – financial development – economic growth triangle, the linkage which failed to yield the desired outcome for South Africa’s post 1994 era.Therefore, this study employs Cointegration Vector Autoregressive (CVAR) methodology to investigate the relationship between trade, financial development and economic growth in South Africa. The unit root test revealed that the variables considered in the study are I(1) variables and the Johansen cointegration test justified the existence of a long run relationship among the variables. The empirical findings indicate that imports and financial development are positively related to exports whilst economic growth is negatively related to exports. The VAR Ganger causality test has shown that there is a uni-directional causality running from financial development to economic growth, exports and imports and that imports Granger cause exports. The results of this study form the basis for further investigation into the non-performance of exports and economic growth in the nexus. The research study opens up new policy insights by suggesting that financial policy can be used to be more supportive to the production of intermediate and finished products destined for both international and domestic markets.

This research study aims to investigate what is there on offer for tourists in Mnquma Local Municipality, such as products (arts and craft, accommodation establishments and places of interests), their readiness for tourist consumption (state, accessibility), tourism routes and the understanding of communities on tourism and what can be derived from it to improve their livelihoods. This in turn will establish whether the tourism sector can be used as a tool for local economic development in the municipality. In the end, this study will make recommendations on what needs to be done in the municipality for the tourism sector to be more effective for the local communities and the municipality. The researcher has conducted a qualitative research study through the use of structured questionnaires as the data collection tool, in order to obtain information from specific population members of the concerned local municipality on tourism and LED issues. The study has been conducted from twenty three accommodation establishments in Mnquma Local Municipality. During the data collection period, the researcher discovered that these accommodation establishments are facing a number of challenges ranging from poor accessibility and signage for which the study is expected to address these in the recommendations. The study will include a purposive sample of tourism businesses in the hospitality sector in Mnquma Local Municipality. From the purposive sample, the researcher opted for total population sampling which is a type of purposive sampling technique where the researcher chooses to examine the entire population. At the end, researcher recommends that the municipality needs to address the infrastructural challenges such as roads (for accessibility to tourist sites), electricity and health centers to be able to support tourism economic activities. It also needs to ensure on the continuous hosting of events to address the seasonal nature of tourism and to market the municipality as an event destination. The researcher also recommended the establishment of partnerships with sector departments and parastatals such as SEDA, DTI, ECPTA, TEP etc. Lastly, being such a rural municipality with a rich history, culture and heritage, it is recommended that the municipality must prioritise tourism as a tool for Local Economic Development to better the lives of its population and to improve its economy.

This study seeks to focus on the extent to which the newly formed Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality (MMM) in the Free State Province of South Africa has been able to close the socio-economic gap between the former homelands’ socio economic status and the current MMM such that the local development in former homeland areas post 1994 is scruitinised with the MMM serving as a unit of study for the scrutiny. A brief history of the three towns that form the Mangaung Metro Police such as Bloemfontein, Botshabelo and Thaba Nchu, the population statistics and economic sectors contributing to its economic environment will be provided. The study will also look into the historical background of Local Economic Development and practices in South Africa.

Tourism has come to be seen as a key driver for local economic development in South Africa, as it provides opportunities for pro-poor and community-based initiatives. On a global scale, the challenges of confronting poverty and unemployment continue to dominate the development agenda. The ability of Local Economic Development (LED) to empower local people has earned favour with national governments and development theorists. The imperative facing South Africa to achieve a more equitable and sustainable economy is essentially the challenge to adopt and implement a development approach that will reduce poverty and unemployment (which are the two key objectives of LED) to the greatest extent. It is within this context that the South African government has sought to incorporate LED into their economic development framework, predominantly through the decentralisation of development control and planning to the local government level. This study examined the contribution of guest houses to economic growth and employment as key components of LED in a sustainable manner. The study revealed that guest houses are playing a key role in the development of the local economy in the Eden district region. Guest houses are providing employment opportunities to the local residents both on a full-time and part-time basis. Further to this, guest houses are buying many locally-produced products and services from local suppliers and this contributes to economic growth of the local economy. However, this study also found that many of the guest houses in the area are not aware of government incentives available to support them and very few of them have made use of these services. This is something that needs to be addressed if these guest houses are to continue to strengthen the local economy and provide employment opportunities in a sustainable manner. The study revealed that many of the guest houses are operating in an environmentally friendly manner and this will ensure their future sustainability. The broader situation and the contribution of the accommodation sector as critical assets in local and national tourism economies has been thoroughly researched in tourism research around the world. Existing work on the accommodation sector in the South African tourism economy is mainly urban-focused and indicates that its local development impacts can be positive albeit not always maximised through local linkages, however, only a limited amount of academic investigations examines the contribution of tourism sub-sectors to economic growth and employment. The authenticity of this study is based on Its contribution which must be viewed in relation to the relatively limited body of literature in the contribution of tourism sub-sectors to economic growth and employment and in this case guest houses as one type of accommodation sub-sector.

The South African automotive industry is by no means a ―cut and paste‖ version of their overseas counterparts. The industry and the market are very complex. The historical background of the industry is such that companies have difficulty forming partnerships and joint ventures with bigger international conglomerates. The difficulty with this kind of mindset is that it is restricting growth and development of the nation as a whole. Globalisation is a future we cannot be avoided. Should the nation continue to reject it and embrace the mindset of countries in Africa, South Africa (SA) will continue on the path that the rest of Africa is heading, a path that leading to self-destruct and segregation. Even though SA is a developing country, it is in some areas as developed as many other first world countries. For a country to generate wealth it needs to be innovative and develop an entrepreneurial consciousness. A young country like South Africa needs creative thinkers and opportunists that can see into the future, seizing every opportunity, to grow and develop new ideas and business. In order for a country to grow it needs a leadership that is to nurture the baby of innovation. If South Africa wants to be part of the global village it need to develop a trade policy that welcomes trade and at the same time creates stable and sustainable jobs. The environment for investments needs to be cultivated in a problem-free and growth prone nation. This can only happen when the educational level of the nation is improved. The fact that so many skilled workers need to be imported creates tension in the labour market. People with talent need to have a reason to stay in the country. Their salaries should match that of their overseas counterparts. Furthermore, with the same skill level and work ethic, should have the same rewards and remuneration.

Since the mid 70’s politicians have realized how important transport has become in the economy of South Africa and the advantages it has on growth, job creation and infrastructure. The result was involvement in the rules and regulations that govern South African transport in our country today. Economic growth has become a critical factor for the survival of economies as well as the future prospects of generations to come. The global recession which had a direct and indirect effect on South Africa has highlighted the importance. The question on how the National Development Plan could have an influence on local and national economic growth has developed as well as what the impact will be of the contribution road transport can make on the growth of the South African society and the economy. When the current road transport sector is taken into consideration, the need for a constructive plan that can assist transporters, drivers and businesses to grow and expand has been identified. The purpose of this study is thus to determine what the current economic situation in the world and in South Africa is as well as how the current political spheres are contributing to the national economy. An in-depth analysis of the National Development Plan has been done with emphasis on the effect on transport in general and the effect on road transport in South Africa. In order to accomplish this objective a detailed literature study was done which highlighted the academics information that pertains to the above mentioned topics. An empirical study that would measure the thought process and feelings about the National Development Plan and road transport has been conducted by means of a questionnaire. The results of the study have indicated that the National Development Plan could be an important tool and could have an enormous positive effect on the overall economic situation of South Africa and its citizens. In addition, the study has revealed that in the long term the effect of the plan could be to the advantage of the road transport sector. Factors that could contribute to the success would be features such as the planned improvements on the main transport corridors, upgrade of infrastructure and the controlling of environmental matters would have give a positive ring to it. On the other hand, recommendations to rectify and improve other issues such as corruption, leadership, maintenance backlogs and stricter laws and policies have been identified that are hindering businesses to grow and expand. Literature and data gained through the empirical study has indicated that the National Development Plan will improve South Africa’s economic situation. Respondents were optimistic about the plan and the overall feeling were that the plan will succeed in improving the road transport sector thus contribute to the National Development Plan objective to eliminate poverty and inequality by 2030.