In South Africa, the employment market has a large number of informal traders who are making a living by selling food, snacks, vegetables, clothes, crafts and various other items on a daily basis. The sector forms a large of economic activity and contributes significantly to the GDP.
As a versatile and dynamic sector, the informal sector in South Africa helps to provide for many families. Street trading s one of the largest sectors of the informal economy. Research has also shown that the majority of street traders in South Africa are black women. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the informal sector accounts for up to 60% of the economy.
Informal traders often have to deal with a range of business challenges and most of the time the majority of them aren’t adequately equipped to deal with. Major cities are providing shelter, storage and ablution facilities for informal sectors as a way of helping to drive growth and job creation in this sector. More cities are making sure that informal traders empowered are operating increasingly successful businesses.
Government has introduced a number of measures to equip informal traders with skills to help them run their businesses more efficiently.
More than 1000 informal traders were recently empowered with a range of business skills in a training programme. A partnership between the Department of Small Business Development and the Wholesale and Retail SETA helped equip traders with various skills.
Training included financial management, merchandising, stock rotation, point of sale, marketing and selling skills, personal hygiene, health and food safety.
Small Business Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu said R50 million has been allocated for the roll-out of the Shared Economic Infrastructure facility and support for informal businesses generally.
Minister Zulu said that by upskilling informal traders, the government was empowering them to play a more meaningful role in the economy.
Informal traders empowered through skills training are able to run their businesses more efficiently and are better equipped to deal with business challenges.