Policy roadmap for a sustainable informal business sector

ABSTRACT

The informal sector plays a vital role in providing income opportunities to the unemployed. The sector can create more employment opportunities in this distressed South African economy; however, sustainability concerns do exist. An exploratory research design was used in this qualitative study in order to understand the policy stances towards the informal business sector and the issues that threaten its sustainability. The results indicated that the government's efforts to support informal businesses are not tangible and are not focused on inclusive development. A strategic roadmap that could be used by the government to help the sector sustain itself is proposed.

KEYWORDS:

• Governance and public policy
• labour and livelihoods
• region: sub-Saharan Africa

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Florah S. Modiba

Florah Sewela Modiba is a lecturer whose research interests are in community (township and rural) development; gender and development; ICTs in development; entrepreneurship for township and rural economies.

Stephen Mago

Stephen Mago is an Associate Professor whose broad research interests are in development studies with specific interests in development finance, entrepreneurship, migration and development, rural development, and research methodologies.