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 (ENVC)
Johannesburg, 2017 / The ability of immigrants to craft successful livelihoods in the harsh economic
climate that seems to overwhelm the local population has led to them being
blamed for the unfortunate plight of South Africa’s poor, with the result that
there has been targeted violence on immigrants in recent years. Informal sector
entrepreneurship is at the heart of this with immigrants said to be outperforming
local entrepreneurs, and taking away the last option of earning an income.
Entrepreneurship is quoted as the only lasting solution to the poverty and
unemployment that plagues developing countries.
The ability of immigrants to succeed in a sector that is considered unproductive
is worth investigating. In this study, cross sectional data is used to compare the
antecedents of Entrepreneurial Performance between foreign Immigrants and
South Africans. The findings are that, while both group’s performance is
affected by Entrepreneurial Action; South African performance is driven mainly
by deprivation, a factor that has no effect on immigrants. This puts the recent
explosive response of local entrepreneurs to immigrant competition into
perspective, and necessitates interventions that will, not only curb further
xenophobic violence, but up-skill local entrepreneurs and enable them to make
a living out of informal sector entrepreneurship.
Contrary to popular belief, none of the population’s performance was linked to
Social Capital. There is no use allowing people into the country only to stifle
their ability to sustain themselves. Immigrant Entrepreneurship is a reality that
South Africa needs to embrace. / MT2017
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/23040 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Maisela, Sikhumbuzo |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | Online resource (xv, 145 leaves), application/pdf |
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