A walk along a major thoroughfare in any township or a wander downtown in any South African city reveals a myriad of small business activity that is in places almost overwhelming in its variety and intense competition for trade. Many of these businesses are marginal, some are opportunistic, and others skirt the boundaries of legality. But all are fuelled by the need to survive, from table stands selling single sweets and cigarettes to phone shops allowing customers to make international calls via satellite using power from a car battery.

It is somewhat surprising then that despite this wealth of business activity, the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2006 for South Africa report (Maas & Herrington) states South Africa lags behind international ratings of entrepreneurial activity. The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report indicated that only 5.29% of South Africa’s adult population was involved in start-up or new businesses.