A number of issues in the thesis need to be clarified and will be discussed individually below. The term Third World, which is used in the thesis to describe developing countries in a disadvantageous economic position in relation to developed countries, is unsatisfactory. It is a collective term which combines countries with dissimilar cultures, ideologies and future prospects into one category (De Souza & Porter, 1974). Debate continues whether South Africa can be classified as a First or Third World country (Fair, 1982). Rogerson & Beavon (1980) indicate that South Africa can be described as dichotomous because it reflects characteristics of both First and Third World countries. In comparison De Souza & Porter (1974,1) include South Africa among the Third World countries, because four-fifths of the people have an income that is six times less than the income of the other fifth, and they live in a condition of underdevelopment. Conditions in Fingo Village resemble those described by De Souza & Porter (1974) and hence the results of the Fingo Village survey are compared with similar studies, elsewhere in the Third World. However, it would be naive to assume that Fingo Village is unaffected by development within the core regions of South Africa, which in many instances epitomize the First World. The term informal sector, used throughout the thesis, is also unsatisfactory, and debate continues as theorists attempt to find a more appropriate term. Santos (1979) indicates that the term informal sector is contentious, by placing it in single quotation marks. From the literature survey it emerged that the majority of authors did not follow Santos' convention (1979) and thus it seemed acceptable to use the term, informal sector, without placing it in single quotation marks. Chapter Two deals in-depth with the problem of defining the informal sector, and a working definition for the Fingo Village survey is presented in section 2.4.1. The informal sector embraces a wide diversity of economic activities. Due to the limited time and funds available, it was decided to isolate one aspect of this sector, namely, hawking. Sections 2.3 and 2.7 of Chapter Two indicate that hawking is an exemplary informal sector activity. All the different hawking types could not be given close attention and therefore, for practical purposes, it was decided to select one facet of hawking, namely, fruit and vegetable hawkers. Mobile fruit and vegetable hawkers were excluded from the study as it was impossible, during the mapping survey, to isolate a specific hawking site for each mobile hawker. Furthermore, a mobile hawker could easily be enumerated on more than one occasion, and hence a margin of error would automatically occur in the study. This was another reason for excluding mobile hawkers from the study and merely focusing upon static and semi-static fruit and vegetable hawkers. It is difficult to collect comprehensive quantitative data on informal sector activities (Preston-Whyte et al, 1984). The interviewer has to gain the confidence and trust of the subjects. The interviewer for the Fingo Village survey was a well known local personality and a man of some standing in the Black community. Daniel Sandi was the Secretary, of the Grahamstown Association (GRACA), which was reputed to have the support of the majority of the Black residents in Grahamstown until it was banned under the State of Emergency in July 1985. Daniel Sandi was also known for his contribution in literary circles as an epic poet. His previous experience conducting socio-economic surveys, as a researcher for the Border Council of Churches and as the Teba Research Assistant for the Institute of Social and Economic Research, Rhodes University, was also helpful. Sporadic unrest in the study area, from September 1984 and throughout 1985, prevented further fieldwork from being conducted in Fingo Village.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management specialising in Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation Johannesburg, 2016 / The establishment and growth of informal traders in South Africa have been attributed with a considerable need and desire for these informal economies to achieve economic growth, create sustainable entrepreneurial opportunities, assist with employment opportunities, etc. A number of factors have an impact on how these informal traders can become competitive and formalised, and one of these enablers is the influence of ICT interventions by informal economies to improve business performance. The purpose of this research was to establish the perceived relationship between the influence of ICT usage by informal traders and the perceived impact on business performance. The intended objective was to assess whether the perception of ICT adoption by informal traders had a positive or negative business performance outcome. The research methodology adopted was a quantitative approach, which was guided by a positivist paradigm. The population targeted were informal traders in the Sandton region of Johannesburg, South Africa. A questionnaire was distributed to gather data. The influence of ICT and the perceived impact within informal traders in the Sandton region revealed some findings consistent with existing literature. It was the overall accepted perception that ICT adoption has a perceived positive impact on business performance, including but not limited to market share, products, and customer service, as measured in the research. A deeper analysis is required to understand why the respondents in the research overwhelmingly state that the influence of ICT adoption has a perceived positive impact on performance, market share, and product and customer service. / MT2016

This research project focused on understanding the narratives of women informal street traders in Warwick Junction, Durban. This is a diverse and vibrant trading community and the five women interviewed have been working in the area for many years. This means that these research participants offer a unique window in on the intersections between individual (psychological) realities and historical, sociopolitical and economic life. The project adopted a narrative approach, analyzing the ways in which 1) particular incident narratives (PINs) within each life narrative reflect key aspects of the life story and draw on narrative principles to convey this; 2) the ways in which narratives are interactively constructed between the researcher and participants in the interview situation; and 3) the relational construction of individual lives in networks of communities. The results highlighted the inherently interwoven nature of identity construction between individuals and the communities with which they associate. The overarching factors of poverty, gender and trauma were shown, in all three levels of analysis, as key elements that tied the women together through relationships of shared experiences. The stories that the women chose to share were strongly influenced by the presence and responses of the interviewer and the researcher and thus, the ways in which power, entrenched in history and culture, influenced the narratives became most evident. The ways in which the women connect and disconnect with relational others was shown to influence their sense of belonging within various communities, both real and imagined. This contributed to the women’s development of resilience and salient identities as cohesive communities were shown to be buffers against adversity and influencers in the construction of identity.

This study focused on the impact of vegetable sales on household income of hawkers in the Limpopo province. A stratified sampling technique was used. The population of hawkers was selected from the five district municipalities of the province. Three major towns from each district were randomly selected for 366 questionnaire administration. Multiple regression analysis (linear, semi-log and double-log) was used to determine the impact of vegetable sales on the household income of hawkers. The outcome of the study revealed that, nine independent variables had a significant impact on the vegetable sales of hawkers when the linear regression model was applied. On application of the semi-log regression, 11 independent variables had a significant impact on the vegetable sales. Ten independent variables had a significant impact on vegetable sales when considering the double-log regression. The cross tabulation of total sales according to districts showed that an average of 1.6 respondents earned less than R200 which is close to, but lower than R174 which is the poverty line measure in South Africa. The study showed the degree of significance of different variables that have an impact on hawkers’ vegetable sales. Vegetable hawkers generate enough income from their sales to live above the poverty line. The recommendation was that the local municipalities should build new markets and improve the infrastructure of existing markets, and also provide proper sanitation and clean water to avoid unhygienic situations in hawkers’ markets. / Agriculture and  Animal Health / M. Sc. (Agriculture)

This study focused on the impact of vegetable sales on household income of hawkers in the Limpopo province. A stratified sampling technique was used. The population of hawkers was selected from the five district municipalities of the province. Three major towns from each district were randomly selected for 366 questionnaire administration. Multiple regression analysis (linear, semi-log and double-log) was used to determine the impact of vegetable sales on the household income of hawkers. The outcome of the study revealed that, nine independent variables had a significant impact on the vegetable sales of hawkers when the linear regression model was applied. On application of the semi-log regression, 11 independent variables had a significant impact on the vegetable sales. Ten independent variables had a significant impact on vegetable sales when considering the double-log regression. The cross tabulation of total sales according to districts showed that an average of 1.6 respondents earned less than R200 which is close to, but lower than R174 which is the poverty line measure in South Africa. The study showed the degree of significance of different variables that have an impact on hawkers’ vegetable sales. Vegetable hawkers generate enough income from their sales to live above the poverty line. The recommendation was that the local municipalities should build new markets and improve the infrastructure of existing markets, and also provide proper sanitation and clean water to avoid unhygienic situations in hawkers’ markets. / Agriculture and  Animal Health / M. Sc. (Agriculture)