Urban poverty and the informal economy in South Africa's economic heartland

The paper describes urban poverty and the informal economy in the economic hub of South Africa, the Pretoria-Witwatersrand-Vereeniging region (which includes Johannesburg). Its findings show the limited possibilities for using the informal economy as a means of resolving pressing issues of poverty in South Africa's cities. After an introduction about the post-apartheid government's Reconstruction and Development Programme, the paper describes the scale and nature of urban poverty and the causes of its growth and the growth and changing complexion of the informal economy, including the rapid growth of “survivalist” enterprises and the links between the formal and informal economy. This includes a consideration of what constrains the informal economy and the links between supporting the informal economy and addressing poverty.