Securing Livelihoods: A Gendered Analysis of Support Interventions available to Street Traders in the Durban Metropolitan Area
Given high levels of unemployment and continuing job losses in the formal economy, small, medium and micro enterprises (SMME)1 are increasingly viewed as important sources of employment and income by all spheres of government in South Africa. A number of government support strategies for small businesses have been put in place. The aim of this study is to analyse support needs of a particularly visible, but often neglected, group of small businesses - street traders - and to compare this with what is currently available in the Durban Metropolitan Area (DMA). In a five city comparison, Durban was identified as engaging more thoroughly with integrating street traders into city plans (Skinner, 1999). This, combined with recent policy developments that strongly favour supporting informal economy activities, makes Durban a particularly appropriate site to analyse micro-developmental support needs and interventions.
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