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Locating the Informal Sector in the Gauteng City-Region and Beyond

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The Changing Space Economy of City-Regions

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Abstract

This chapter explores the distribution, role and penetration of the informal sector in the spatial and economic landscapes of the Gauteng City-Region (GCR), as well as how it extends the economic footprint of the GCR. The chapter focuses on informal-sector entrepreneurial activity and employment in the GCR. It places the discussion in the context of the South African and provincial policy environment around the informal sector and situates the informal sector of Gauteng in a South African and an international context. The chapter shows how the informal sector of the province provides income-earning opportunities to entrepreneurs and their employees, and contributes significantly to the formal retail and wholesale sector. Spatially, it penetrates all parts of the province and spatial concentrations are apparent in places. Its penetration into economically weaker spaces in the province and the GCR indicates that there are economic possibilities in these areas and that, given the contribution of the informal sector to employment, it has the potential to provide livelihoods for employees as well as entrepreneurs. Challenges remain as to how to manage the informal sector and generate growth and development in the sector. This chapter draws on the Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO) Quality of Life 2015 survey, a GCRO 2014 survey of informal-sector entrepreneurs in Gauteng, and a GCRO 2014 survey of informal-sector cross-border traders and refers to data from Statistics South Africa (StatsSA).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    This chapter does not engage with the wider informal economy, which provides livelihoods to residents through agriculture; informal, or precarious, employment in the formal sector and private households; or, through informally rented housing.

  2. 2.

    The survey was undertaken with the African Centre for Cities (ACC) and the Southern African Migration Programme (SAMP) and was funded by the GCRO and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Some 930 international migrant and 637 South African entrepreneurs participated. Interviews were undertaken in Johannesburg (941), Pretoria (218), Ekurhuleni (217), Emfuleni (141), and Randfontein (50) at selected sites where informal-sector entrepreneurship was known to take place. Interviewees were randomly chosen using intervals.

  3. 3.

    The survey was undertaken in conjunction with the ACC, SAMP, and the University of Eduardo Mondlane and was funded by the GCRO and the IDRC. Cross-border traders were interviewed at transport nodes, shopping centres and places of accommodation in Johannesburg.

  4. 4.

    Gauteng showed the lowest response rate of any province in the SESE 2013 survey—62.5% compared to the national figure of 81.2% (StatsSA 2014b, p. 20).

  5. 5.

    It is unclear whether these policies will be pursued in Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni following the 2016 local government elections that saw changes in government from the African National Congress (ANC) to the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the first two metros.

  6. 6.

    The population group categories used by StatsSA are used in this chapter.

  7. 7.

    See also GCRO Vignette, No. 26. Informal sector cross-border trade spending in Gauteng (http://www.gcro.ac.za).

  8. 8.

    A 2008 Southern African Migration Programme (SAMP) survey found 41% of cross-border traders travelled to Johannesburg to shop (Peberdy et al. 2016). Other significant destinations in the 2008 survey were: Durban (17%); Musina (6%); Polokwane (5%); and Mbombela (2%) (Peberdy et al. 2016). In the GCRO 2014 survey the other main destinations in Gauteng were Tshwane, Randfontein, Vereeniging/Vanderbijlpark and Hammanskraal/Babelegi (GCRO 2014b).

  9. 9.

    In comparison, of the business owners operating in the formal sector, 24% were 1-person firms; 40% employed 1 to 5 people; 18% between 6 and 10; 11% between 11 and 20; 5% between 21 and 50; and 3% employed more than 50 workers (including 1%, or eight respondents, who employed over 200 workers each).

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Acknowledgements

Mncedisi Siteleki and Samkelisiwe Khanyile are thanked for the preparation of the figures in this chapter. The useful comments of the two reviewers who read an earlier version of this chapter are acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO), a partnership between the University of Johannesburg, the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, the Gauteng Provincial Government and organized local government, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Sally Peberdy

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  1. Sally Peberdy
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Correspondence to Sally Peberdy .

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  1. University of the Witwatersrand, Gauteng City-Region Observatory, a partnership between the University of Johannesburg, The University of the Witwatersrand, the Gauteng Provincial Government and organized local government, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Koech Cheruiyot

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Peberdy, S. (2018). Locating the Informal Sector in the Gauteng City-Region and Beyond. In: Cheruiyot, K. (eds) The Changing Space Economy of City-Regions. GeoJournal Library(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67483-4_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67483-4_7

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