The South African informal sector’s socio-economic exclusion from basic service provisions: A critique of Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality’s approach to the informal sector
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17159/2413-3051/2021/v32i2a5856Keywords:
Energy needs; basic urban infrastructure services; informal sector; informal food sector; street traders; exclu-sion; service provision; women; energy services; local government; livelihoodsAbstract
This study explores the exclusion of informal micro-enterprises from the provision of basic urban infrastructure services in Duncan Village in East London, South Africa. It focuses on the informal food sector, which is dominated by women who are often held back from participating in economic activities that are more productive, as well as from social and political functions. Basic urban infrastructures, such as trading shelters with water and electricity connections provided by municipalities, are often expensive and most informal street traders find it difficult to access them. This study examines the energy struggles of the informal street food sector and its engagement with local government on issues of inclusivity on policies regulating the sector. In-depth, semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with 40 participants in the informal street food sector in Duncan Village. The findings reveal the lack of energy transition in the informal street food sector, because of its heavy reliance on low-quality fuels. Unreliable and expensive energy services force informal street food enterprises into using a limited range of energy sources. The findings also reveal that the relationship between the municipality and the informal street traders is one of exclusion and negligence. It is therefore suggested that government needs to recognise and value the informal sector and livelihoods of those involved in this sector, to take into account their needs, and engage with them when designing and implementing policies that regulate the sector.
Downloads
References
Amigun, B., Musango, J.K. & Stafford, W., 2011. Biofuels and Sustainability in Africa. Renewable and Sustainable En-ergy Reviews, 15: 1360–1372. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2010.10.015
Bailis, R., 2015. Energy policy in developing countries. In Patz, J and Levy, B (Eds.) Climate change and public health. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press: 291–302.
Babbie, E., 2010. The practice of social research. 12th edn. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage.
Chen, M. A., 2012. The informal economy: Definitions, theories and policies. Women in informal economy globalizing and organizing (WIEGO) Working Paper 1, Cambridge, MA.
Chen, M. A., 2014. Informal Economy Monitoring Study Sector Report: Home-Based Workers, WIEGO, Cambridge, MA, available at http://wiego.org/ sites/wiego.org/files/publications/files/IEMSHome- Based-Workers-Full-Report.pdf.
Hamadziripi, T., 2009. Survival in a collapsing economy: A case study of informal trading at a Zimbabwean flea mar-ket. A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Sociology), Uni-versity of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg.
Clancy, J.S., Skutsch, M.M. & Batchelor, S., 2002. The gender – energy – poverty nexus: Finding the energy to address gender concerns in development. Paper prepared for the UK Department for International Development (DFID), London
De Groot, J, Mohlakoana, N, Knox, A & Bressers, H., 2017. Fueling women’s empowerment? An exploration of the linkages between gender, entrepreneurship and access to energy in the informal food sector. Energy Research & Social Science 28, 86–97. doi:10.1016/j.erss.2017.04.004
Department of Minerals and Energy, 2003. Electricity basic services support tariff, Free Basic Electricity Policy. Pre-toria
Department of Mineral Energy, 2007. Free Basic Alternative Energy Policy. (Households Energy Support Pro-gramme). Pretoria.
ILO, 2007. 298th Session of Governing Body Committee on Employment and Social Policy: the informal economy (GB.298/ESP/4). Geneva: International Labour Office.
ILO, 2017. International Labour Standards on Social security. [Online]. Available: http://www.ilo.org/global/standards/subjects-covered-by-international-labour standards/social- International Labour Organization, 2018. Women and men in the informal economy: A statistical picture Copyright ©securi-ty/lang--en/index.htm [Accessed 22 May 2017].
International Energy Agency, 2010. Energy technology roadmaps: a guide to development and implementation. Available online: http://www.energy.gov.za/files/SETRM/EnergyTechRo admaps/Roadmap-guide.pdf [accessed 16 June 2017].
International Energy Agency, 2014. Africa Energy Outlook. A focus on energy prospects in Sub-Saharan Africa. World Energy Outlook special report. International Energy Agency, Paris.
Israel-Akinbo, S., Snowball, J. & Fraser, G., 2017. The energy transition patterns of low-income households in South Africa: An evaluation of energy programme and policy. Paper presented at the economic society of South Africa bi-ennial conference 2017, Rhodes University, Grahamstown
Makaluza, N., 2016. Job-seeker entry into the two-tiered informal sector in South Africa. REDI3x3Working paper 18, University of Cape Town.
Makoma, M., 2018. Women in the informal economy: Precarious labour in South Africa. Thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts (Political Science) in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Stellenbosch University
Matinga, M., 2010. “We grew up with it”. An ethnographic study of the experiences, perceptions and responses to the health impacts of energy acquisition and use in rural South Africa. University of Twente, Netherlands.
Matinga, M. N., 2015. LPG and livelihoods: Women in food processing in Accra. ENERGIA newsletter 16 September 2015. 11-14
Matinga, M.N. & Annegarn, H.J, 2013. Paradoxical impacts of electricity on life in a rural South African village. Ener-gy policy 58, 295–302. doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2013.03.016
Malonza, R. & Fedha, M.L., 2015. An Assessment of Gender and Energy in Kenya. International Journal of Scientific & Technology Research Volume 4, ISSN 2277-8616 137
Mohlakoana, N., 2014. Implementing the South African Basic Alternative Energy Policy: A Dynamic Actor Interac-tion. Doctoral thesis, University of Twente, Enschede.
Mohlakoana, N., de Groot, J. Knox, A. & Bressers H., 2019. Determinants of energy use in the informal food sector, Department of Governance and Technology for Sustainability. University of Twente, Netherlands, 36:4,476-490, doi: 10.1080/0376835X.2018.1526059
Monyai, P.B., 2011. Social policy and the state in South Africa: Pathways for human capability development. PhD thesis. Department of Development studies, University of Fort Hare.
Mkandawire, T., 2001. Social Policy in a development context. Social policy and development Programme Paper No.7: United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, Geneva, Switzerland.
Mtero, F., 2007. The informal sector: micro-enterprise activities and livelihoods in Makana municipality, South Afri-ca. Master’s thesis. Industrial Sociology. Rhodes University
Mwasinga, B., 2013. Assessing the implications of local governance on street trading: A Case of Cape Town’s inner city. Masters dissertation, School of Architecture, University of Cape Town.
Nackerdien, F. & Yu, D., 2017. A panel data analysis on the formal-informal sector linkages in South Africa. Paper presented at the economic society of South Africa biennial conference 2017, Rhodes University, Grahamstown.
Ndlovu, P., 2015. Understanding the local state, service delivery and protests in post-apartheid South Africa: The case of Duncan Village and Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, East London. Master’s dissertation. Industrial Sociology, University of Witwatersrand.
Ndulo, M., 2013. Failed and failing states: the challenges to African reconstruction. Cambridge scholars, Newcastle, UK.
Pavlovic, I., 2016. What are the factors that contribute to the exclusion of the iSMEs, particularly informal Micro En-terprises (iME), from the SMEs policies in Rwanda and Senegal? University of Twente, Netherlands.
Rogan, M. & Skinner, C., 2017. The nature of the South African informal sector as reflected in the quarterly labour-force survey, 2008-2014. REDI3x3 Working paper 28, University of cape Town.
Rogerson, C., 2008. Tracking SMME development in South Africa: Issues of finance, training and the regulatory envi-ronment. Urban Forum, 19(1): 61-81
Rogerson, C., 2016. South Africa’s Informal Economy: Reframing Debates in National Policy Local Economy 31: 172-186.
Ruzek, W., 2015.The informal economy as a catalyst for sustainability. Department of geography, Florida State Uni-versity, Tallahassee, FL 32306, 2015, 7, 23-34.
Sello, K., 2012. Former street traders tell their stories (Narratives in the inner city of Johannesburg. Bachelor of Sci-ence (Honours) in Urban and Regional Planning at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Shabalala, S., 2014. Constraints to Secure Livelihoods in the Informal Sector: the Case of Informal Enterprises in Delft South, Cape Town. Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of City and Regional Planning in the School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics. University of Cape Town
Skinner, C., 2006. Falling through the Policy Gaps? Evidence from the Informal Economy in Durban, South Africa. Urban Forum. 17(2), 125-148.
Skinner, C., 2008. Struggle for the Streets: The Process of Exclusion and Inclusion of Street Trader in Durban, South Africa. Development Southern Africa 25, 2: 227-242.
Skinner, C. & Haysom, G., 2016. The informal sector’s role in food security: A missing link in policy debates? Working paper No. 44, PLAAS, UWC and center of excellence on food security, Cape Town.
Skinner, C., 2016. The Nature, Contribution and Policy Environment for Informal Food Retailers: A Review of Evi-dence. Annotated Bibliography for the Consuming Urban Poverty Project, African Centre for Cities, Cape Town.
Skinner, C., 2019. Informal-sector policy and legislation in South Africa: Repression, omission and ambiguity. Univer-sity of Cape Town
StatsSA, 2019. Quarterly Labour Force Survey – Quarter 3, 2019. Statistics South Africa, Pretoria
Stephan, U., Hart, M. and Drews, C. 2015. Understanding motivations for entrepreneurship a review of recent re-search evidence. Enterprise Research Centre and Aston Business School, Aston University, Birmingham, pp. 1 – 54.
Tshuma, M.C. & Jari, B., 2013. The informal sector as a source of household income: The case of Alice town in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Journal of African Studies and Development 5(8), 250–60.
Tracy, S.J., 2013. Qualitative Research Methods. West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell
Wadi, C., 2015. Livelihood Strategies of Female-headed Households in the coloured community of Sunningdale in Harare, Zimbabwe A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Social Sciences. Rhodes University
Downloads
Additional Files
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 B. Masuku, O. Nzewi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
.png){kind=spacer}