Author: Annele Dippenaar

The informal economy includes street vendors, spaza shops, hawkers, tuck shops, second-hand goods traders, small grocery and clothing traders, hairdressers, repair services and car washes. It is a sector built on entrepreneurial ingenuity. These traders meet essential community needs in areas that are often underserviced and under-represented.They are not helpless participants in need of rescue. Instead, they operate in highly challenging conditions. These include red tape, permit delays, displacement, limited infrastructure, crime and unsafe trading environments, as well as restricted access to formal finance. Despite this, the informal economy remains one of the most precarious yet vital parts of the labour market, with research noting it as a lifeline for…