Evaluation of Street Vending Towards Socioeconomic Growth and Employment in Mafikeng Local Municipality 

Street vending is one of the main sources of living for a lot of people in our society. Likewise, it is one of the surviving options to tackle the high level of poverty and geometric progression of unemployment in Mahikeng Local Municipality. The main focus of this paper is to discuss the economic contribution of street vending and to proffer solutions by which street vending can operate successfully. A conceptual approach is used in this paper. This paper pursues a critique of the strong confrontation strategy that is used by Mahikeng Local Municipality. The paper reveals that widely in South Africa, street vendors are not recognised as legitimate businesses that can contribute to the economy. This paper concludes that street vending (informal business) contributes to the local economic development of South African municipalities. However, there is a need for comprehensive planning and the creation of a conducive working environment for the informal businesses. It is recommended that, in order to ensure sustainability, there is a need to provide necessary training and orientation programmes to promote growth of street vendors within the city of Mahikeng.