By: M.C. Madondo (Ph.D). 2021
ABSTRACT
A contextual view of entrepreneurship post-Covid-19 in South Africa is yet to be explored. South Africa is an emerging economy. The small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sector forms a large part of entrepreneurship that plays a significant role in this economy. This type of entrepreneurship is contributing to the GDP, poverty alleviation and creating employment opportunities. The arrival of the corona virus, also referred to as Covid-19 pandemic, disrupted this contribution and shook the entrepreneurial confidence of many small businesses – both formal and informal. Given this scenario, a contextual view of entrepreneurship during the crisis is a two-fold contradiction.
On the one hand there is the contribution to the economy but then on the other hand their unavoidably weakened contribution to the economy. The purpose of this study was to explore and observe, from a contextual view, how small business enterprises and entrepreneurs in South Africa are possibly reshaping opportunities after the shock of the Covid-19 pandemic crisis. The research question was, therefore, to what extent are Covid-19 pandemic external shocks reshaping entrepreneurship opportunities in South Africa? The study was qualitative in approach designed on ethnographies of South Africa using an online method of data collection.
Two online South African agencies’ data sources were used to validate the central findings of what post-Covid-19 means for small and medium entrepreneurs and their enterprises in South Africa. The findings include insights about future policy making impacts on the protection of jobs, workforce and financial support, and entrepreneurial freelancing and resilience for individual entrepreneurs. Like any research, this study has its own limitations. This study relied on online reported small business case narratives as data. This stands to be argued as subjective. Therefore, further empirical study is still required. The practical implications are that this study initiates research interests in contextual views of entrepreneurship post-Covid-19 at the level of small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurs. There is a value add. Researched views of entrepreneurship post-Covid-19 are yet to grow and be available in South Africa. This makes the current study among the first to enter this entrepreneurship post-Covid-19 discourse. It therefore adds to new knowledge in the entrepreneurship conversation about the current concerns and the meaning of post-Covid-19 among SMEs in South Africa.
Keywords: Corona Virus, Entrepreneurship, Post-COVID-19, SMEs, South Africa.
WatMo Consulting Inc. 