Women empowerment through entrepreneurship : An investigation of women-owned small medium micro enterprises in South Africa.

Abstract

Worldwide, women entrepreneurs play a major role in the economic growth and development of any nation, yet women are still facing multiple challenges in the Small, Medium, and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) sector. The South African government endeavours to accelerate economic growth, job creation and to address inequalities, through enterprise development and support. It created and enacted laws that seek to create an enabling environment for the growth and support of women-owned SMMEs. The government introduced the 1995 White Paper on Small Business Development, which clearly outlines that government agencies are compelled to develop and implement programmes geared towards the support and promotion of women-owned SMMEs. The focus of the study was to investigate the role of government agencies in empowering women-owned SMMEs. The research was exploratory in nature, as such, a qualitative approach based on a combination of research techniques was adopted. The study involved three phases, firstly, a thorough review of literature on the gender and poverty situation in South Africa, empowerment efforts, policies, and other initiatives. Secondly, interviews with key individuals were conducted in order to understand the impact of government interventions on women-owned SMMES from their expertise point of view. Thirdly, the empirical part of the study comprised of interviews with women entrepreneurs in an effort to explore their views on government support on women-owned SMMEs. Findings from the study indicate that whilst the government has made significant progress on the development of initiatives that stimulate women entrepreneurship in the country, a majority of women entrepreneurs have not managed to benefit from the available initiatives. This in a way continues to compromise the effectiveness of the enacted policies. For instance, most women entrepreneurs are not aware of the types of initiatives that the government is offering to the SMMEs sector; moreover, lack of accessibility has also hindered women, entrepreneurs, from obtaining government support. The suitability of these initiatives concerning addressing the different needs of women entrepreneurs also remains questionable, as women are treated as a homogeneous group. Perhaps, the main challenge that the South African government is facing, is the implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and the marketing or rather promotion of these initiatives to the population at large. This thesis recommends that the government should review the current policies and programmes designed to assist women entrepreneurs in this country in order to evaluate the weaknesses and strengths that are inherent in the system. Future programmes should be designed based on empirical research in order to match the actual needs of women entrepreneurs in relation to the challenges t they encounter. This is crucial because women in the small business sector are a heterogeneous group with different needs and challenges.