Contributions of informal businesses towards sustainable income generation in Mankweng Zone 1 Township, Polokwane Local Municipality, Limpopo Province, South Africa

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate the contributions of informal businesses towards sustainable income generation in Mankweng Zone 1 township. Informal businesses are regarded as a viable livelihood strategy for generating income for people in both developed and developing countries. The rising level of unemployment, caused by the formal market's inability to absorb the growing labour force, led to an influx of people into the informal market as a survival strategy to generate income. The income from the informal enterprises is questioned as to whether it is sustainable or unsustainable; therefore, the study investigated the sustainability of income from the enterprises. The study adopted a mixture of research approaches under the descriptive research design to describe how informal enterprises contribute towards sustainable income. The convenience and snowballing non-probability sampling were adopted in the study to sample the three-target population because the size of the target population was unknown. A questionnaire survey, Document Analysis and an interview were utilised to collect both secondary and primary data. The study found that informal businesses in Mankweng Zone 1 Township contribute to sustainable income by providing employment and meeting household needs. However, challenges such as lack of capital, infrastructure, and government support restrict growth. Despite these obstacles, some businesses have shown resilience and long-term sustainable income. Therefore, the study recommended that the government should draft programmes that directly deal with the issues of informal enterprises, and they should also provide financial schemes and infrastructure, which could lead to the owners being motivated to register their business. Lastly, the government should simplify the process of registering businesses and provide detailed information to informal businesses on how to register their business for long term sustainable income.