Facilitating policy implementation on entrepreneurship in South Africa using ICTs

Abstract

There have been many initiatives in developing countries around the world when it comes to ICT and it has been shown that ICT does not in itself lead to any socioeconomic development. Rather, it is the use of ICT in various initiatives, for example as in this research in using ICT to foster an entrepreneurial culture which eventually leads to developmental change. These entrepreneurial cultures include individuals or groups of individuals having ideas that will enable them to bring about an economical change in their lives and in the country. It is the responsibility of government to create and stimulate a culture of entrepreneurship. This research investigated influences on how policy can be designed to create an environment that fosters an entrepreneurial culture in rural communities of South Africa by using ICTs. The findings suggest ways that South Africans’ can use to enhance the entrepreneurial culture. The case study approach is used in a rural area in Mpumalanga, South Africa where entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs are interviewed about their use of ICTs. The findings reveal that the implementation and facilitation of policies on entrepreneurship in South Africa are not well diffused amongst people living in rural areas, specifically at Kwa-Mhlanga. ICT can play a role in making people in rural areas aware of entrepreneurial opportunities and the introduction of ICTs at the lowest level of the education syllabi for example at the foundation phase will also help create an ICT entrepreneurial culture. This will also ensure that when the students finish their tertiary education a certain percentage of them can create jobs for the unemployed rather than the whole population of students looking upon government to create jobs for them.