Return to search

Public perceptions of the impact of the global financial crisis on the South African economy

Thesis (MTech (Public Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2011 / The study aims to assess how people in South Africa perceive the impact of the global
financial crisis on the South African economy in the context of unemployment, poverty,
crime, the mining, industrial, manufacturing and agricultural sectors, household
expenditure, capital inflows, capital flows, capital outflow, electricity prices, education
funding, health funding, remittances, pension funding, and financial institutions. From
2008 to 2010 the South African economy entered into recession because of the global
financial crisis which was caused by the collapse of the United States’ housing market. A
survey questionnaire which aimed to measure the perceptions of the impact of the global
financial crisis on the South African economy was administrated to 300 randomly
selected students and staff at two universities. A number of people were selected from
the general public in Cape Town and at selected survey areas: two universities and five
townships in Cape Town (Mandela Park, Hout Bay Harbour, Guguletu, Nyanga and
Khayelitsha). The research followed the procedure of random sampling with students
and staff at two universities in Cape Town and they were selected by the researcher and
fieldworkers on an arbitrary basis. The employed field workers selected persons from
the townships on the same basis. Results from the survey showed that a majority of
respondents from universities and non-university subjects (170) agreed that the global
financial crisis has impacted negatively on the South African economy in the context of
unemployment, poverty, crime, the mining, industrial, manufacturing and agricultural
sectors, capital inflows, capital flows, electricity prices, education funding, health funding,
pension funding, and financial institutions. The survey questionnaire was designed
according to the sample, which comprises staff and students at two universities in Cape
Town, as well as, non-university subjects. This meant that many respondents included
university staff and students because they are educated and have more knowledge and
understanding than non-university subjects. This research found that non-university
respondents were more unwilling to participate. The fieldworkers were also challenged
to assess the perceptions of a large number of these respondents owing to a lack of
language and cognitive skills. The research used two fieldworkers to assess the
perceptions of university respondents concerning the impact of the global financial crisis
on the South African economy. The research also used 14 fieldworkers to assess the
perceptions of non-university respondents concerning the impact of the crisis on the
South African economy. The cost of the fieldworkers’ remuneration was justified as the
assessment process would have been extremely difficult for the researcher to have
undertaken alone.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:cput/oai:localhost:20.500.11838/1658
Date January 2011
CreatorsKazadi, Marcel Lusamba
PublisherCape Peninsula University of Technology
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
Rightshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/za/

Page generated in 0.0014 seconds