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Mail & Guardian
township economylatest news & developments

Valentine Mabaso

South Africa's township economy is rich with entrepreneurial talent, but too many promising hospitality businesses never reach their full potential. At 31, Valentine Mabaso is on…

Entrepreneurial ecosystem: The township economy demonstrates that economic participation can emerge even under difficult circumstances when entrepreneurial systems are present.  Photo: Delwyn Verasamy

Lessons for SA from the township economy

Migration and employment are often discussed through competition, but the success of South Africa's township economy reveals a more fundamental question: Why do some…

Sabbir Alam of Bangladesh in his tuckshop in Meqheleng near the Ficksburg border post. (File photo: Thulani Mbele/Sowetan/Gallo images)

Transforming spaza shops from trouble into township titans

To safeguard their future, we must address regulatory gaps, ownership patterns and issues such as extortion

Meals on wheels: KasiD delivery CEO Freddy Mahhumane and Lucky Mazibuko of the Ribs Circle restaurant in Tembis are positive about the food-delivery business in townships. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

The appetite for food delivery services in townships is growing

The big players have launched township e-commerce initiatives but existing businesses already have a good handle on the space This content is restricted to registered users and…

Since its establishment in 2020, the Spaza-shop Support Programme has funded more than 6 000 small businesses around the country but many shop owners have bemoaned the poor communication around the scheme. Photo: Supplied

Spaza shops take centre stage in township economy

Consumers living in such areas are spending more at spazas than big retailers, according to a report

Small businesses are central to South Africa’s economic resilience and recovery and corporates should work with them. Photo: David Harrison/M&G

It’s a Khaltsha thing: Khayelitsha’s growing middle class

In a few years the township will ‘disappear’, and Khayelitsha will become a city, believes one local entrepreneur

City of Ekurhuleni, Mayor Mzwandile Masina campaigns on October 03, 2021 in Ekurhuleni, South Africa. South Africa’s municipal elections will be held on 01 November 2021 to elect councils for all district, metropolitan and local municipalities in each of the country’s nine provinces. (Photo by OJ Koloti/Gallo Images via Getty Images)

Khaya Koko: Katlehong is Mzwandile Masina’s ‘Animal Farm’

The Ekurhuleni mayor’s family home and the Katlehong section in which it is situated are spared the debilitating five-hour blackouts from powerless Eskom