The impact of law enforcements on the lives of informal traders in South Africa. How can their situation be improved? (PDF)

Document from the year 2018 in the subject Sociology - Individual, Groups, Society, University of KwaZulu-Natal, language: English, abstract: The aim of this research is to show how law enforcement impact negatively on the lives of informal traders and how this relationship can be improved. The paper tries to gain insight on how informal trading assist or betters the lives of traders. It shows how informal trading reduces the impact of unemployment and how informal trading can be better regulated without affecting those depending on the informal sector. Like this, it also examines the nature of the laws that conflict with the interest of informal traders.

The contemporary democratic South Africa that was highly celebrated during its inception in 1994, is now confronted with volumes of criticism due to lack of opportunity and prosperity. South Africa is witnessing protest (peaceful and violent) in various part of the country. The rate of unemployment in the country is increasing and this crisis informs the broader problem of the widening gap between the haves and the have not.

In the midst of these problems, the informal sector provides opportunity and hope for millions of South Africans and mitigate the impact of unemployment and inequality. However, the functionality of the informal sector in South Africa is limited by regulations and law enforcements. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to critically discuss the impact of law enforcements on the lives of informal traders.