Townships have the potential to drive economic growth in SA, according to Thamsanqa Mazwai, special adviser to the minister of small business."Most people live in townships so the jobs and opportunities must go to where the people are," he said during a seminar on the Department of Trade and Industry’s rural and township industrial economic development programme, in Pretoria on Wednesday.Twenty-two million South Africans live in townships and informal settlements, accounting for 38% of working-age citizens. But these areas also account for 60% of the unemployed.Unemployment in SA reached historical highs of 27.7% in 2017, although the government is confident that with support, townships and informal settlements are poised to become major job creators.The biggest challenge for economic development in rural and township economies is transforming them from markets to active economies."Markets entail a consumption-driven society. Townships have become a market for others, but there is l...
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