3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item Perceptions of informal traders towards taxation in Buffalo City Municipality(2018) Mungwana-Zake, Eva NabukaluThe pressure on South Africa’s tax revenue (income tax in particular) has become evident in recent years. The Davis Tax Committee and National Treasury have echoed the urgency of broadening the tax base by minimizing revenue leakages and maximizing compliance to tax legislation. Compared to industrialized and developing countries, the informal sector in South Africa remains an unexplored source of tax revenue. This research investigates the tax perceptions of informal traders to understand their attitude towards tax compliance. Personal, semi-structured and in-depth interviews were conducted with ten informal traders in Buffalo City Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province. The respondents generally displayed a positive willingness to comply with tax; issues of fairness and legitimacy as they pertain to the government, tax authority and tax system were strong anchors of tax compliance. A slightly defiant attitude towards the elements of the tax system was observed. Therefore, an inclusive approach to remedy non-compliance is recommended to address such variations in compliance behaviour.Item Are the views of Hernando De Soto applicable in South Africa(2018) Masotja, EvelynDeveloping countries have struggled to identify the sources of economic growth for many years. Hernando de Soto has identified the legal system as key to unlocking the potential of economies and making markets inclusive for the poor. He argues that developing countries must establish representational systems that will transform assets into capital and he demonstrates the importance and role of property rights in creating wealth for economic development. These rights facilitate economic exchange, access to credit, transfer of resources and meaningful economic activities. The thesis seeks to determine if the views of De Soto are applicable to South Africa. It argues that traders in Pretoria lack secure and strong property rights. De Soto claims that developing countries have assets and resources and only lack an inclusive legal system. The lessons from De Soto are applied to the situation of street traders in Pretoria. The thesis focuses on traders in Pretoria in areas that include Sunnyside, Marabastad, Hatfield and various streets in the Pretoria central business district (CBD). In 2014, the traders participated in violent protests due to police harassment and confiscations of their stock. There were tensions and hostility between the traders, the metro police and the municipality. The argument here is that the situation of the traders in Pretoria, the capital city of South Africa, is under-researched and has similar dynamics to those of street traders in Peru, as depicted in the somewhat neglected first book of Hernando De Soto, The Other Path, which was written in the 1980s. My study finds that the conditions of traders in Pretoria have improved since late 2014. Traders in Pretoria experience less harassment and crime, and appear to have more rights than the study anticipated based on the reports of the situation in 2014. What the research in this thesis points to is the role that informal traders' associations can play to strengthen property rights. Associations play a crucial role in countries such as Egypt and India by negotiating property rights for traders. The views of De Soto are applicable to South Africa as far as the importance of securing suitable property rights for the traders is concerned, and especially in his earlier book, The Other Path, he sheds light on the role that traders can play to strengthen their rights vis a vis the state. Establishing secure, individualised property rights without compromising existing rights is a difficult and lengthy process. The thesis therefore proposes a systematic, gradualist approach to addressing the property rights of traders in the economy. The approach includes identifying ways to bring traders into the economy, gradually and in a sustainable manner. The efforts and success of the Tshwane Barekisi Forum must be strengthened and built on for more conducive and workable engagements between the traders and the Pretoria metro. In South Africa, the informal sector at least provides some opportunities to move out of unemployment and poverty. Research shows that informal trader associations have played a positive role in improving the position of street traders in Pretoria. However, if this is to be more than a temporary improvement, numerous issues that continue to weaken the property rights of traders have to be addressed over time.Item Shop gevaar: a socio-legal critique of the governance of foreign national spaza shopkeepers in South Africa(2017) Gastrow, VanyaJust over ten years ago on night of the 28th of August 2006, angry mobs took to the streets of Masiphumelele township outside Fish Hoek, near Cape Town, and attacked and looted foreign national spaza shops in the neighbourhood. The attacks shocked the city, and prompted the provincial government to initiate an intervention to address the underlying causes of the violence. The outcome comprised an agreement between foreign national and South African spaza shopkeepers that permitted foreign nationals to return on condition that they did not open any new shops in the township. These mediation efforts comprised the beginning of many governance interventions in Cape Town and across the country that were aimed at curtailing foreign national spaza shops in South Africa. This thesis examines formal and informal attempts to govern foreign national spaza shops in South Africa, and seeks to understand what they reveal about the nature of politics in South Africa, as a postcolonial and developing country. In doing so it locates itself in the theoretical framework of law and society, as it examines legal phenomena from a social science perspective. Its findings are based on case study methodology involving qualitative interviews with key participants and stakeholders, as well as document collection, participant observation, and media reports. The research finds that many governance actors’ anxieties towards foreign national spaza shops relate less to shopkeepers’ particular activities and more to South African traders’ abilities to incite local socio-economic discontent against these shops, and thereby threaten political establishments. However, governance interventions rarely unfolded as intended due to resistance by competing interest groups who sought to advance their private economic concerns rather than public and political rights. This invokes features of Hannah Arendt, Michel Foucault and Giorgio Agamben’s theories of the ‘social’ or ‘biopolitics’, which argue that the entry of economic concerns into the political sphere is characteristic of the modern age. The thesis therefore reflects on Arendt, Foucault and Agamben’s theories in assessing what governance efforts reveal about the nature of South Africa’s political sphere. It finds that the social realm in South Africa differs from their accounts in two significant respects. First, the social sphere is conflicted between various economic goals – with parties seeking to foster basic life and sustenance, as well as to advance the emancipation of citizens from the colonial legacies of apartheid through economic mobility and opportunity. This makes finding a path to advance overall economic advancement in the country more difficult and contentious.Item The influence of cultural Intelligence on the relationship between social capital and entrepreneurial performance: a study of foreign traders in Johannesburg’s informal economy(2017) Mtolo, Sabelo GoodmanEntrepreneurship continues to dominate public discourse as has been the case for the past century; this topic has been widely discussed in academia and policy development, not only as an abstract concept, but as a necessity to activate economic growth, especially for developing countries such as South Africa. Many authors have argued that the mixture of good entrepreneurial activity in the formal and informal sector is necessary and it is interlinked. As such, the multifaceted nature of entrepreneurship continues to be a subject of contention, especially when it comes to issues surrounding entrepreneurial performance. The purpose of this research was to investigate the influence of Cultural Intelligence on the relationship between Social Capital and Entrepreneurial Performance amongst foreign traders based in Johannesburg’s informal economy. The major studies underlying this research are in agreement in the field of social science and business studies, suggesting that Entrepreneurship is embedded in social contexts and cannot be wholly understood unless one attempts to evaluate the influence of different social phenomena. This study assessed foreign entrepreneurs’ cross-cultural adjustment capabilities, their social networks and how the two influence entrepreneurial performance. This study was motivated by the 2008 and 2015 xenophobic attacks in the informal economy which exposed a need to understand cultural and social capital dynamics that underpin entrepreneurial performance amongst foreign entrepreneurs. The research model for this study sought to investigate the mediating influence of cultural intelligence on the relationship between Social Capital and Entrepreneurial Performance. The results of this study indicate that Cultural Intelligence is no significant mediator between Social Capital and Entrepreneurial Performance amongst foreign traders in the informal economy. The results of this further reflected significant differences in attitudes between the groups of foreign traders under study.Item The Impact of social capital and human capital on access to finance and growth of SMMEs in the informal sector(2017) Motsau, NeoDespite the significant role that SMMEs play in the growth of developed and developing economies, they are often plagued by various constraints. Access to finance is considered as one of the major constraints that exist within businesses and is also a consequence of other issues which create an impediment towards the success of SMMEs which compromises the growth of any given economy. The pervasive issue on the lack of access to finance tends to be greater for informal businesses as opposed to formal businesses due to various aspects, such as the entrepreneurial attributes that informal business owner-managers have, which are indeed found to be lacking, consequently leading to circumstances where banks reject loan applications made by these businesses, suppliers reject any request of trade credits made by the owner-managers operating these businesses and potential investors find these businesses to be less attractive when investing for future returns. This study has examined certain determinant factors that are embedded within the theory of entrepreneurship which are perceived to be some of the factors which in essence are considered as success drivers for the growth of all forms of businesses. More importantly, these factors have been closely analysed in the context of informal businesses with regard to whether they prove to be important factors to soliciting finance which is considered a crucial resource for the growth of informal SMMEs. In examining the perceived importance of each of these factors in relation with access to finance, as well as the perceived importance of finance in leading to growth of informal SMMEs, a self-administered questionnaire was distributed across 385 informal business owner-managers in the Gauteng province. Given that the nature of the study was quantitative, descriptive and inferential statistics were performed on the data. Various statistical methods, such as correlation analyses and multiple regressions, were employed to test the proposed hypotheses associated with the relationship of social capital, and human capital to the access to finance, and access to finance on growth. The findings reflected that social capital and human capital are important factors to accessing finance. Furthermore, access to finance is an important factor in the growth of SMMEs in the informal sector. The study contributes towards addressing the existing gap in the knowledge base regarding the determinants of financial access for SMMEs. It also contributes towards providing direction to policy makers involved in enterprise development to reach out to informal business ownermanagers by providing training to these entrepreneurs so as to improve their social and human capital and grow their businesses to graduate into the formal sector as their contribution is needed to grow the South African economyItem Effects of the proposed Licensing of Businesses Bill on migrant traders in Soweto(2017) Motsoeneng, MbaliAs an economic hub of Africa, South Africa has been experiencing an influx of economic and political migrants leading to the ethnic diversification of its population. This trend has incited a xenophobic atmosphere due to frustrations from locals, and has led to violent attacks towards foreign nationals. In particular, the Somali population has endured a high number of attacks as this group has successfully penetrated the informal business market in the townships of South Africa. Government has responded to these xenophobic attacks by proposing, amongst others, a Licensing of Businesses Bill in 2013. The bill has been criticised by the public as it is considered a hostile policy that aims to enforce regulations that restrict foreign nationals from operating businesses in the informal sector. This political dilemma has also led to questions as to how this policy response may have an effect on social cohesion in unequal societies where violence against Somalis is prevailing. The Klipspruit community was selected as it forms part of the City of Johannesburg that has a significant amount of Somali informal traders. The purpose of the study was to examine the root causes of violence against Somalis and the potential of the governments’ policy response to mitigate this phenomenon. In particular, the study also investigated the effect of the proposed Licensing of Businesses Bill on social cohesion development between Somalis and South Africans in Klipspruit. The qualitative research findings indicate that violence against Somalis was due to the economic situation, lack of regulation, competition and business miscommunication. The responses were generally driven by the perception that the government of South Africa introduced a bill that is fostered by nationalistic interests to the detriment of foreign nationals such as Somalis. It is therefore recommended that the government develops a way to enhance power sharing in decision-making processes, monitoring and correcting inequalities amongst culturally distinct groups, promoting cultural diversity and integration through education and lastly ensuring that the government acts in a constitutional manner.Item Factors impacting the adoption of an electronic payment solution in the South African taxi industry: a study of taxi owners in the Johannesburg metropolitan area(2017) Tshambula, AsandaResistance to technological innovation by its end users is a crucial indicator which highlights information which could be utilised for a successful implementation of an innovation. The adoption of a technological innovation puts in jeopardy the internal environment, culture, identity and traditional practices of an industry. End-users have been known to be receptive to innovations as long as they do not change industry practices and help improve industry performance. This research seeks to address how an industry in the second economy characterised by high poverty, less education and minimum skills adopts and diffuse technological innovations. A survey was conducted and responses from 182 taxi owners was analysed. The research has identified that education, technology experience, relative advantage and trialability influence the probability of adoption. The results indicated that due to the nature of a social system there are different results about innovation attributes and different adopter categories can be identified in different social systems. Education and knowledge need to be addressed in order to formalise and modernise the taxi industry not just taxi owners but for taxi drivers and other members of the social system. The results have indicated that most taxi owners have positive attitudes about the electronic fare collection system. This research can contribute to the actual adoption and diffusion of the electronic payment system in the south African taxi industry. The electronic fare collection system needs to be sold for its commercial benefit to the taxi industry instead of being presented as a regulatory case for change.Item Social capital and entrepreneurial performance of immigrant and South African entrepreneurs: a comparative study between immigrant and South African entrepreneurs in Kwa-Tsa-Duza(2017) Maisela, SikhumbuzoThe 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.Item Investigating channels of cash circulation adopted by unbanked (African) migrants in Pretoria Central Business District (CBD)(2016) Mavodza, EmmaThis study explored cash circulation channels adopted by unbanked migrants in Pretoria Central Business District (CBD), South Africa. To understand the complex nature of cash circulation and the subjective practices of migrants, in-depth interviews were conducted with sixteen migrants selected through snowballing sampling. Collected primary data were analysed thematically, from particular to general themes depending on the responses provided by the informants. The study adopted the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF) as an analytical tool to show how in the face of structural and institutional barriers, unbanked migrants have the capability to adopt digital solutions and socially embedded channels which are more flexible and sustainable in their livelihoods. These include informal channels such as hawala, malaichas and digital solutions like Kawena and Mukuru. By using this framework, the report reveals what unbanked migrants are doing on the ground, what shapes adopted cash circulation processes and the resultant livelihood outcomes. The study aimed at contributing to previous research on money transfer mechanisms adopted by unbanked African migrants. The conclusion reached is that, by adopting various socially embedded cash circulation channels, unbanked migrants circumvent structural constraints and, by so doing, financially include more people who were previously excluded. Although the study was limited to a small sample, it raises strong implications for policy makers to look at the inherent strength of migrants as development actors. Findings from this exploratory study are critical in that they open new niches for research on migrants and financial exclusion in Africa and beyond.Item Do informal workers suffer an earnings penalty? A panel data analysis of earnings gaps in South Africa(2016) Yu, KatrinaDrawing on data from the National Income Dynamics Survey (NIDS) from 2008-2012, this paper investigates informal-formal earnings gaps in South Africa in order to assess the validity of labour market segmentation theories and to shed light on the motivations behind informal labour. In addition to controlling for observed individual characteristics using pooled OLS regression, fixed effects and quantile regressions are also estimated to control for time-invariant individual heterogeneity and to assess variations in earnings gap along the income distribution. Results are indicative of segmentation both within informal employment and in the labour market as a whole. Overall, informal employment in South Africa can be characterised as highly diverse and heterogeneous, with earnings differentials varying by employment type (whether salaried or self-employed), gender, and level of income. This earnings analysis is complemented by a brief exploration into the non-pecuniary characteristics of informal employment, with a consideration of the relationship between subjective wellbeing and informality.