Case studies from SPII’s Social Protection and Local Economic Development (LED): Graduation Pilot

In his 2014 State of the Province Address (SOPA), the Premier of Gauteng, David Makhura, stressed the need to ’revitalise and mainstream the township economy by supporting the development of township enterprises, cooperatives and small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) that produce goods and services that meet the needs of townships residents’. The Ministry of Small Business sees the growth of the informal economy as the ’new form of toy-toyi’. Minister of Small Businesses, Lindiwe Zulu, argues that the ‘toy-toyi’ aspect is seen as energies directed towards the positive contribution to the overall economy.