Topic : an appraisal of youth social entrepreneurship for positive youth development in Amathole District Municipality, Eastern Cape

This study explores social entrepreneurship projects which are specifically run by the youth in an attempt to mitigate poverty and unemployment in the Amathole District Municipality, Eastern Cape. It also evaluates the extent to which selected social entrepreneurship interventions have contributed to employment creation and income generation. Furthermore, not only does the study investigate social entrepreneurship opportunities available for rural youth in Amathole but goes further to evaluate the sustainability of existing social entrepreneurship projects. The challenges faced by rural youth in pursuing social entrepreneurship are also explored. In so doing, the study is underpinned by the Positivist Youth Development (PYD) theory. The study found that the youth of Amathole District Municipality have a positive attitude towards social entrepreneurship. They engage in a variety of social enterprises. However, the youth face many constraints such as lack of access to finance, lack of business skills, lack of entrepreneurial education and lack of technical support. All these constraints are interrelated and lead to issues of unsustainability and limited income generation and employment creation. Informed by these constraints, the study recommends coordinated awareness campaigns and government (national/provincial) response about social entrepreneurship and community needs within Amathole. To further understand social entrepreneurship, there is need for further studies to investigate the attitudes and constraints of women towards social entrepreneurship as well as youth’s understanding of social entrepreneurship in general