Economic empowerment of women in the African woven art industry : a case study of Tembisa

Abstract: There are women who make woven art in Tembisa and they are trading in the informal sector. Literature has revealed that the majority of informal craft traders in South Africa are women from poor communities. It is not known whether opportunities, support measures and sources of funding are available in the local community to assist these informal craft traders in transitioning from the informal sector to the formal sector. The primary objective of this study was to investigate opportunities, support measures and sources of funding available in the Tembisa local community to empower the women who sell African woven art to transition from being informal craft traders to becoming formal craft traders. Mixed methods were adopted to examine the economic empowerment of women in the African woven art industry. A survey was conducted including all the informal craft traders that could be located in Tembisa regarding their businesses and their willingness to transition to the formal sector. This was followed by in-depth interviews conducted with the Ekurhuleni municipality and the Moses Molelekwa Community Centre. Research findings revealed that the majority (84%) of the informal craft traders within Tembisa are non-South Africans. Some informal craft traders are selling their crafts by the side of the roads as street vendors, while others are using the door-to-door model to reach their customers. The local municipality have well-developed programmes that focus on empowering informal craft traders and assisting them to make the transition to the formal sector. The programmes at the Moses Molelekwa Community Centre are designed for South Africans and are women inclusive, however, the centre does not have programmes that focus on the process of transitioning into the formal sector. To encourage the culture of weaving among South Africans, basket weaving courses at the local municipality or adult education colleges should be encouraged. This would be aligned to the local economic development guideline which states that people are the single greatest resource, and they must be included in the development initiatives...M.Com. (Local Economic Development