The role of local economic development in empowering women in rural areas in the city of Mbombela Municipality in South Africa.

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to explore and describe the role of Local Economic Development (LED) in empowering women in the rural areas surrounding City of Mbombela (CoM) in Mpumalanga province in South Africa. LED is used as a catalyst to enhance employment and business opportunities and ignite economic growth. The CoM municipality is located in Ehlanzeni region and most under its jurisdiction are rural based municipalities, namely Bushbuckridge, Thaba Chweu and Nkomazi local municipalities. According to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA, 2016), the population of CoM was 695 913. The study was motivated by the high unemployment rate affecting rural women. The CoM must implement viable LED programmes and strive to empower women in resource-constrained rural areas through these LED programmes. The study adopted a qualitative approach and it was informed by the interpretivism paradigm. The researcher used face-to-face in-depth interviews to elicit the views of rural women, CoM officials and traditional leaders. In addition, focus groups discussions (FGDs) were conducted with ward councillors. The study was informed by the feminism theory, Rural Development Framework (RDF), and the modernisation theory. These theories sought to reflect on why women are not empowered and why they are underrepresented. Data was thematically analysed. Findings revealed that the implementation of LED programmes in rural areas is lacking, as many rural women were not knowledgeable about it. Further, the LED strategy was not passed, which led to the failure to rollout proactive LED programmes. Awareness about LED programmes in rural areas was lacking as most women were not knowledgeable about such programmes. Patriarchy is perpetuated by societal factors and cultural norms pitied against women. The findings also revealed that women were faced with economic difficulties as opportunities were seldom or not given at all to this demographic group in the CoM. Women had little or no knowledge about LED. The study also found that there were no frameworks in place to empower women in the Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) sector. The study recommends that the CoM municipality must strive to provide opportunities to rural women and cooperate by providing solutions to the three bottom-line challenges; poverty, unemployment and inequality. It is also recommended that ward councillors should inform communities about opportunities that are available in municipalities especially for women. Traditional leaders should enhance cooperation with ward councillors to ensure that opportunities are shared equally in various areas of jurisdiction. Furthermore, traditional leaders should assist change cultural beliefs and any other aspects that perpetuate patriarchy and promote stereotypes. The study makes an important contribution regarding the empowerment of women through LED opportunities in the CoM municipality.