According to the "South African B2C E-Commerce Report 2012", South Africa was already in 2011 the fifth largest country in Africa in terms of the number of Internet users. Today in 2014, there are approximately 12,5 million South African Internet users . Since several years, the E-Commerce sector is facing a boom in South Africa. However, not everybody seems to profit from or participate in this boom.
Economically and socially, South Africa is still deeply divided. The inequality within the population, the distance between rich and poor is extreme: The richest 20 percent of the population account for almost 70 percent of total income, the share of the poorest 20 percent is just under three percent. Almost a third (31.9%) of the population lives on the equivalent of less than 2 Dollars a day . Around seven million people are considered long-term unemployed with no job prospects, especially those living in informal settlements, the so-called „townships“.
The social and economic inequality is a big problem for the country of South Africa. E-Commerce has the potential to resolve this problem, as it is booming and companies plan to extend their businesses as well as their employee numbers. The idea is to train people from the townships in order to get them to work in the E-Commerce business. Interesting for this thesis are those E-Commerce companies with big storage halls, as they are the ones who might be in need of untrained employees of the townships. Jobs could be needed in basic positions such as picking and packing, quality control and customer services in big warehouses.
Supposed it would be actually possible to use training initiatives and programs in the form of cooperations of E-Commerce companies and township NGO´s, resulting in dimishing unemployment and leading to permitting more people participate in the boom of E-Commerce, the South African economy and its society as a whole would gain a tremendous benefit.
The research question in this master thesis is interlinking the existing economic boom of E-Commerce with the high unemployment rate in the townships: Does the fast-growing E-Commerce in South Africa have an effect on the high unemployment rate in the townships? In the quest for an answer to this question, attention is paid to two related questions as well: Do the lowest social classes feel an improvement in their living standards after being hired by an E-Commerce business?
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
1. IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT SOUTH AFRICA
2. E-COMMERCE
2.1 DEFINITION OF E-COMMERCE
2.2 E-COMMERCE LANDSCAPE IN SOUTH AFRICA
2.3 E-COMMERCE COMPANIES
2.4 E-COMMERCE COMPANIES FOR THIS MASTER THESIS
3. TOWNSHIPS
3.1 DEFINITION OF TOWNSHIPS
3.2 HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICAN TOWNSHIPS
3.3 SOUTH AFRICAN TOWNSHIPS TODAY
4. EDUCATION & UNEMPLOYMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA
4.1 EDUCATION IN SOUTH AFRICA
4.2 UNEMPLOYMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA
4.3 YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT
5. METHOD: QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
5.1 RESEARCH STRUCTURE
5.2 SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS
5.3 INTERVIEW PARTNERS
5.4 INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
5.5 ANALYSIS OF DATA
6. RESULTS & ANALYSIS
7. CONCLUSION
8. DISCUSSION
8.1 SUGGESTED CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE STATE. A 3-STEP-PLAN.
8.2 A CRITICAL LOOK ON THE METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH
8.3 FUTURE OUTLOOK
Objectives and Topics
This thesis examines whether the growth of e-commerce can affect unemployment in South African townships. It also asks how employment may affect living standards and how businesses experience employing people from township backgrounds.
- South Africa’s e-commerce market
- The history and living conditions of townships
- Education, skills and unemployment
- Qualitative interviews with employers and training organisations
- Employment practices and training initiatives
- Policy proposals and future research
Excerpt from the Book
5.5 Analysis of Data
The analysis of data followed the coding method, which means, that general headlines were built of both the content of the answers as well as of question headlines. In general, the answers given by the experts were connected with other interviews in order to determine whether interviewees had the same or different opinions on the various topics or headlines.
In detail, Coding is a technique developed to analyse qualitative data. Unlike quantitative data, qualitative data is often more multidimensional and less clear, making it harder to immediately conclude what the data is telling. Informations that were being drafted of qualitative research have to be linked in such way to be able to still conclude the main points about the theory in general. Coding tries to read qualitative information by working from specific words to general statements, coming from individual perspectives to overarching ideas.
The first step was to look at each interview individually. Looking at the specific interview, codes were put on different statements, information of each interview was grouped into clear categories.
After having done this for each interview, similar categories were searched for in every interview. In this step, information of different interviews was grouped into similar categories, connecting information across interviews. This was done by creating headlines.
In the third step, general statements evolved, concluding all the information together. The result of all this is grouping information out of separate interviews together in a coherent story under different headlines. The product of the coding process can be precisely found in the following chapter six called "Results & Analysis".
Chapter Summaries
INTRODUCTION: The introduction presents the research questions and explains the combination of literature research and qualitative interviews.
1. IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT SOUTH AFRICA: This chapter introduces the country’s economy, cultural diversity and historical context.
2. E-COMMERCE: The chapter defines e-commerce and examines the South African market and companies relevant to the research.
3. TOWNSHIPS: This chapter considers definitions, historical development and living conditions in South African townships.
4. EDUCATION & UNEMPLOYMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA: The author discusses educational inequality, labour-market conditions and youth unemployment.
5. METHOD: QUALITATIVE RESEARCH: This chapter explains the interview design, selection of participants, questions and coding process.
6. RESULTS & ANALYSIS: The interview analysis covers hiring, job categories, training, working conditions and experiences reported by participating organisations.
7. CONCLUSION: The conclusion brings the literature and interview analysis together to address the research questions.
8. DISCUSSION: The discussion considers policy proposals, methodological limitations and opportunities for further research.
Keywords
e-commerce, South Africa, townships, unemployment, youth unemployment, education, skills development, qualitative research, semi-structured interviews, employment, training, social inequality, corporate responsibility
Frequently Asked Questions
What is this thesis about?
It investigates the relationship between South African e-commerce and employment opportunities for township residents.
What are its central themes?
The main themes include online commerce, township history and living conditions, education, unemployment, recruitment and training.
What is the primary research question?
The author asks whether growth in South African e-commerce affects unemployment in townships, alongside questions about living standards and employers’ experiences.
What research method is used?
The thesis combines a literature review with semi-structured qualitative interviews and a coding-based analysis.
What does the main body examine?
It examines the e-commerce market, the social and historical context of townships, educational and labour-market conditions, and interviews with businesses and training organisations.
Which keywords characterise the work?
Key terms include e-commerce, township employment, youth unemployment, education, skills development and qualitative interviews.
Which organisations feature in the research?
The participants include businesses such as Cybercellar, PicknPay, Shoprite, Parcelninja and Wantitall, alongside JumpStart and Bergzicht Training.
How are the interviews analysed?
The author codes individual interviews, groups comparable statements into categories and brings themes together across interviews.
What training material is included?
The work includes material from the JumpStart programme, including an example of its training logbook and a delegate feedback form.
- Quote paper
- Felix Deubert (Author), 2014, Making a difference digitally. E-Commerce in South Africa, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/284115
