In Tembisa, within the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, women sell woven baskets and traditional beaded accessories, trading informally. The baskets have both functional and aesthetic values, as they are used for interior decoration. The skill of weaving is passed on from generation to generation. Research purpose:To investigate the business model used, the skills needed and the opportunities and support measures available to these craft traders to empower them to transition from being informal traders to becoming formal craft traders.Motivation for the study: Little is known about the women who sell crafts informally in Tembisa. The literature has revealed that the majority of informal 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 municipality and community to assist these craft traders in transitioning from the informal to the formal sector.Research approach/design and method: A mixed-methods research approach was adopted. A quantitative survey using a structured questionnaire enabled data collection from 32 traders. Through in-depth interviews, information on current programmes by the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality and the Moses Molelekwa Centre were obtained.Main findings: This research revealed that the African craft business is seasonal, depending on the supply of weaving material and cultural and other functions. Most of the traders were not South African and were not interested in transitioning from the informal to the formal sector. Both the municipality and the centre offered programmes to assist informal traders to transition from the informal to the formal sector.Practical/managerial implications: Only a few of the respondents were South African. It is essential to ensure that the skill of weaving continues and be elevated to lucrative business. Owing to the fact that informal businesses purchase from formal business, government programmes should focus more on supporting informal business to be successful without requiring them to be formalised. Contribution/value-add:The business model of the craft traders in Tembisa has been unpacked. Insight has been gained into their economic challenges and the measures that a local authority could implement to empower and assist these women.

The Constitution of South Africa imposes a burden on municipalities to engage in local economic development. Municipal local economic development practitioners are often in doubt regarding the various mechanisms available to them to implement local economic development. This article provides insight into the processes and issues surrounding the use of an external mechanism (a private company owned by the municipality) as a local economic development agency. The lessons learnt from the Overstrand Local Economic Development Agency are compared with findings of an international study of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development on 16 local economic development agencies. The article provides guidelines to local economic development practitioners to follow before, during and after the establishment of a local economic development agency.

Background: Rural cattle farmers in Mzongwana, Matatiele, Eastern Cape, face a scarcity of resources preventing them from commercial farming and contributing to local economic development (LED) and eradicating unemployment.Aim: This study compares resource constraints associated with livestock farming contained in the Matatiele Local Municipality’s LED strategy with those identified by the cattle farmers in Mzongwana villages, linked to the agricultural economic theory of scarcity of resources.Setting: The Matatiele area has an estimated unemployment rate of 39%. This article focuses on LED interventions to commercialise livestock farming practices in Mzongwana villages located in the Matatiele Local Municipality, in the Alfred Nzo District Municipality in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa.Methods: A quantitative survey was conducted using a researcher-completed structured questionnaire with 34 of the 65 cattle farmers from Mzongwana.Results: The results revealed that major constraints affecting Mzongwana livestock farmers include stock theft, a dearth of bulls for breeding, inadequate water infrastructure and limited equipment to perform various cattle functions, such as scaling, loading, separating, clamping and sorting of cattle.Conclusion: The LED strategy of the local municipality should be revised to provide training and skills capacity building related to cattle breeding and to address these major constraints affecting the commercialisation of livestock farming in Mzongwana. It is recommended that the Matatiele Local Municipality assist in the combating of stock theft, provide training in artificial insemination, ensure water availability by building dams and drilling boreholes, and arrange for financial support for cattle farmers to purchase cattle equipment.

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