Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management
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Item A post-training evaluation of a(2011-06-24) van Steenderen, MargaretThe research problem was to evaluate a “Grow your Business” training course that had been run amongst informal traders. The City of Johannesburg rolled out the training course to 962 traders during 2005 and 2006. They contracted Wits Enterprise to write the programme and to roll out the facilitation. The programme ran over fourteen weeks, with a workshop once a week and was aimed at providing business skills to traders. The aim of this report is to see if the training is worthwhile running in similar environments. Kirkpatrick’s Levels for evaluating training was identified as a useful theoretical model to use to assist in the evaluation. The four levels are theorised to be interlinked and are reaction, learning, behaviour and organisational outcomes. The approach was to take the outcomes of the course and to test them using questions based on the various levels of Kirkpatrick’s model. This was done through the administration of questionnaires, with a final count of 85 being used. The overall findings for the course have been positive, with traders recommending the course for others and overall showing positive responses. After evaluation of the data it is recommended that this course be run in similar settings.Item A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE BEST PRACTICE IN(2011-05-16) Maluleke, TimothyThe informal economy plays an important role and positively contributes to the economic development of South Africa. The purpose of the research is to explore the comparative analysis of the best practice in support of street trading in South Africa, with a particular focus on the three metropolitan municipalities of Johannesburg, Tshwane and eThekwini. The South African government has embraced and supported the informal economy by developing policies that are meant to improve the life of informal traders. The literature review indicates that informal traders face a number of challenges and constraints, such as lack of finance, cost of registration, and complicated regulations and procedures that hinder the development of the informal economy. The current legislation and policies need to be in favour of informal traders, as they have been a centre of attention because of the high rate of unemployment. Many individuals who are unemployed tend to resort to informal sector activities for survival. A qualitative study was conducted in the three metropolitan municipalities to compare best practice in support of street traders. This has been done by looking into legislative policies and regulations that govern and support the development of informal traders. The policies and regulations of the three metropolitan municipalities were extensively used in the research to determine the support they give to the development of informal traders. The research findings have revealed that the reason for becoming street traders is that the majority of the population is not employed and/or has lost formal employment through retrenchment and had to become informal traders as a last resort to support their families and improve their living conditions. The research also revealed that the metropolitan municipalities have assisted street traders by enhancing their business skills through training and mentorship programmes, which have helped them to start realising profitability ii in their businesses and enable them to run their businesses in a professional manner. Studies have shown that the general challenges and obstacles faced by street traders include, among others, the lack of shelter for their stalls, lack of toilets, water, electricity and storage facilities for their stock and goods, as well as the unsafe environment in which they find themselves, but the three metropolitan municipalities have done good work in addressing these challenges and obstacles.Item SOCIO - ECONOMIC CHALLENGES OF WOMEN STREET VENDORS(2011-05-10) Kyompaire, PatienceThe research report assesses the socio economic challenges of women street vendors operating in the inner city of Johannesburg. The study was done to investigate the socio economic problems faced by the women street vendors as well as possible solutions to the problems were identified. The study was undertaken amongst other things to focus on the financial challenges, environmental challenges, policy implementation, and support from municipality structures. The study found out most of the women street vendors operate under strenuous conditions with continuous challenges most of which have endless solutions. The findings showed that most women street vendors face various financial, environmental, social and economic challenges as they ply their trade on streets. The researcher further concluded that most of the women street vendors had a low level of education, were independent, the achievements were uneven, lack of capital, high permit charges for the trading space, and lack of infrastructure were a major problemItem INCENTIVES FOR MEMBERS OF THE(2011-05-05) Macaringue, Doris Afonso NhoneThe informal sector in Mozambique has grown quickly especially since 1992 when many people migrated from the rural to the urban areas where they were involved with agriculture during the civil war. Once in the urban areas, they ran small businesses as a way of subsistence. Both Government and Municipalities are aware of the situation and are passing laws and regulations to help this sector perform better. The implementation of all regulation and laws are not readily accepted by the traders and there are concerns about the procedures to be followed by the traders. The purpose of this research is to establish why informal traders fail to operate in the space provided for them by Government which is intended to encourage the traders to undertake their activities in appropriate spaces. In an attempt to understand the phenomenon, both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to answer the questions, and to test the hypotheses. Broadly the traders are willing to move to the space designated by the Municipality and also to comply with the rules and regulations from the Ministry of Trade and Industry. However, the Municipality should provide better conditions in the designated spaces to attract traders and the law needs to be more widely publicized and disseminated so that traders are aware of current legislation. Better communication between Government and Municipality with the traders is required to increase their awareness of the rights that assist them and their knowledge of the rules, policies and procedures they have to follow once they are operating in this sector.Item The Path to Legitimacy and the(2011-04-12) Gallagher, ChristinaFor almost a century, informal traders and the local government in Johannesburg have debated policies regulating the informal sector. Initial policies severely restricted the sector by imposing strict criteria for operating businesses, but after 1994 special development programmes were created by a new, democratic local government. However, the informal sector claims these programmes do not create economically viable opportunities. A major finding of this research is that the informal sector has the potential to operate efficient businesses, but is constrained by overly restrictive by-laws; lack of business skills; and access to financial assistance. It is recommended that the city develops a comprehensive management plan that provides skills training; access to capital; and restructuring of the by-laws. In addition, an independent monitoring body should be appointed to oversee the plan