Full Text Available
Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.
The effect of COVID-19 on women working in the South African informal economy and the need for social protection
Thesis (DPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2026.
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | en_ZA |
| Published: |
Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
2026
|
| Subjects: | |
| Tags: |
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1869484152773935104 |
|---|---|
| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Bob, Shaka Keny |
| author2 | Dubbeld, Bernard |
| author_browse | Bob, Shaka Keny Dubbeld, Bernard |
| author_facet | Dubbeld, Bernard Bob, Shaka Keny |
| author_sort | Bob, Shaka Keny |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | Stellenbosch University |
| description | Thesis (DPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2026. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/135631 |
| institution | Stellenbosch University (South Africa) |
| language | en_ZA |
| last_indexed | 2026-07-01T04:10:21.428Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| publisherStr | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| spelling | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/135631 The effect of COVID-19 on women working in the South African informal economy and the need for social protection Bob, Shaka Keny Dubbeld, Bernard Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology and Social Anthropology. Women -- Employment -- South Africa Informal sector (Economics) -- South Africa COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020 -- Economics -- South Africa Social security -- South Africa Women -- South Africa -- Social conditions UCTD Thesis (DPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2026. Bob, S. K. 2026. The effect of COVID-19 on women working in the South African informal economy and the need for social protection. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University [online]. Available: https://scholar.sun.ac.za/items/13aed851-9ec2-4022-bdd9-6bc68db84e7a ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In South Africa, as in many other countries, social protection systems play a critical role in protecting people against systemic and ordinary economic shocks. However, in South Africa, there are debates on how comprehensive such social protection is, especially in relation to the informal sector, and the women and non-citizens who work in this sector. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted some of the difficulties with South Africa’s social protection, and even the emergency measures introduced by the government were not as comprehensive as promised. Through an analysis combining quantitative data, specifically the National Income Dynamics Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey and qualitative data on informal workers at the Bellville Transport Interchange, my doctoral study offers an empirical basis from which to understand the gaps in social protection in South Africa’s informal economy. The focus of my study is therefore to understand how informal workers coped with the COVID-19 pandemic and to find out to what extent they require some form of social protection to address their vulnerabilities to ensure that they can sustain their livelihoods. Conceptually, the study rests on 3 theoretical approaches: First, theories of the welfare state provide valuable frameworks for understanding how social protection can be extended to informal workers by illuminating the underlying principles, institutional arrangements, and political dynamics that shape welfare provision. Esping-Andersen’s typology, for example, shows how different welfare regimes (liberal, conservative-corporatist, and social democratic) vary in their approaches to decommodification and stratification, which helps explain why some systems more readily include non-standard workers than others. From a developmentalist perspective, welfare states in the Global South are often characterised as productivist or informalised, highlighting the need to design schemes that recognise informal work as a structural feature rather than an anomaly. Secondly, Feminist theories on neoliberalism contribute crucially to discussions on social protection by exposing how market-driven reforms often intensify gender inequalities and undervalue care work, thereby leaving many women—especially those in informal and precarious employment—without adequate coverage. These theories argue that neoliberal policies, with their emphasis on individual responsibility, fiscal austerity, and the privatisation of social services, shift the burden of social reproduction onto households and disproportionately onto women. This lens highlights how social protection systems rooted in formal employment and contributory schemes structurally exclude women who dominate the unpaid and informal care economies. Lastly, theories on the informal sector help explain why extending social protection to informal workers is both necessary and challenging, by highlighting the structural and institutional factors that shape informality. Dualist theories view the informal sector as separate from the formal economy, often comprising marginalised workers excluded from formal employment and social security, thus justifying targeted social assistance to reduce poverty and vulnerability. Structuralist theories, by contrast, see informality as deeply embedded within capitalist production systems, where firms deliberately outsource and casualise labour to cut costs—implying that social protection must confront power imbalances in labour markets and regulate employer practices to prevent informalisation. Legalist theories emphasise how complex regulations and high compliance costs push workers and firms to operate informally, suggesting that simplifying registration systems and incentivising formalisation can broaden social protection coverage. Collectively, these theories underscore that informality is heterogeneous and shaped by state policies, market dynamics, and socio-political exclusion, which means social protection for informal workers must be flexible, inclusive, and designed to overcome structural barriers to participation. These theories helped me to understand how the government’s attempt through the Disaster Management Act to aid the most vulnerable in the pandemic both exacerbated already existing gaps in social protection and created new difficulties for some in the informal sector. The study found that self-employed food vendors faced the most challenges in coping with the hard lockdown restrictions. Government travel restrictions on the taxi industry had negative repercussions on informal workers because pedestrians were greatly reduced in number due to provisions of the National Disaster Act. Moreover, clothing traders suffered immensely during the hard lockdown and reported zero earnings because the sale of clothing was banned during this period as a mitigatory measure of curbing the spread of the coronavirus. To transform their livelihoods, informal workers had to come up with innovative trading and livelihood solutions to survive the pandemic. These coping measures included temporary employment in the formal sector of the economy or an attempt to diversify the products and services that they sell. This research reveals that the formation of the Bellville African Informal Traders Association has improved informal workers’ bargaining power within tripartite labour-related platforms. Whether such forms of association have the power to change the structure of social protection in the economy, is something that I reflect on in the conclusion of the thesis. AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In Suid-Afrika, soos in baie ander lande, speel maatskaplike beskermingsisteme ’n kritieke rol om mense teen sistemiese en alledaagse ekonomiese skokke te beskerm. In Suid-Afrika is daar egter debatte oor hoe omvattend sodanige maatskaplike beskerming is, veral in verband met die informele sektor, en die vroue en nie-burgers wat in hierdie sektor werk. Die COVID-19-pandemie het sommige van die probleme met Suid-Afrika se maatskaplike beskerming uitgelig, en selfs die noodmaatreëls wat deur die regering ingestel is, was nie so omvattend soos belowe nie. Deur ’n ontleding wat kwantitatiewe data (spesifiek die National Income Dynamics Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey) kombineer met kwalitatiewe data oor informele werkers by die Bellville Vervoerwissel, bied my doktorale studie ’n empiriese basis om die gapings in maatskaplike beskerming in Suid-Afrika se informele ekonomie te verstaan. Die fokus van my studie is dus om te verstaan hoe informele werkers die COVID-19-pandemie hanteer het, en om vas te stel in watter mate hulle ’n vorm van maatskaplike beskerming benodig om hul kwesbaarheid te hanteer sodat hulle hul lewensbestaan kan volhou. Konseptueel rus die studie op drie teoretiese benaderings: Eerstens bied teorieë oor die welsynstaat waardevolle raamwerke om te verstaan hoe maatskaplike beskerming tot informele werkers uitgebrei kan word deur die onderliggende beginsels, institusionele reëlings en politieke dinamika wat welsynsvoorsiening vorm, te belig. Esping-Andersen se tipologie toon byvoorbeeld hoe verskillende welsynsregimes (liberaal, konserwatief-korporatisties en sosiaal-demokraties) verskil in hul benaderings tot dekommodifisering en stratifikasie, wat help verduidelik waarom sommige stelsels makliker nie-standaard werkers insluit as ander. Vanuit ’n developmentalistiese perspektief word welsynstate in die Globale Suide dikwels as produktiwisties of geïnformaliseer gekenmerk, wat die behoefte beklemtoon om skemas te ontwerp wat informele werk as ’n strukturele kenmerk eerder as ’n afwyking erken. Tweedens dra feministiese teorieë oor neoliberalisme deurslaggewend by tot besprekings oor maatskaplike beskerming deur te wys hoe markgedrewe hervormings dikwels geslagsongelykhede verdiep en sorgwerk onderwaardeer, wat baie vroue—veral dié in informele en prekariese werk—sonder voldoende dekking laat. Hierdie teorieë voer aan dat neoliberale beleide, met hul klem op individuele verantwoordelikheid, fiskale soberheid en die privatisering van maatskaplike dienste, die las van sosiale reproduksie na huishoudings verskuif en buitensporig op vroue plaas. Hierdie lens wys hoe maatskaplike beskermingsisteme wat op formele indiensneming en bydraeskemas gegrond is, struktureel vroue uitsluit wat die onbetaalde en informele sorg-ekonomie oorheers. Laastens help teorieë oor die informele sektor om te verduidelik waarom dit beide noodsaaklik en uitdagend is om maatskaplike beskerming na informele werkers uit te brei, deur die strukturele en institusionele faktore wat informaliteit vorm, te belig. Dualistiese teorieë beskou die informele sektor as apart van die formele ekonomie, en bestaan dikwels uit gemarginaliseerde werkers wat van formele indiensneming en sosiale sekerheid uitgesluit word, wat dus geteikende maatskaplike bystand regverdig om armoede en kwesbaarheid te verminder. Strukturalistiese teorieë, daarenteen, sien informaliteit as diep ingebed in kapitalistiese produksiesisteme, waar firmas doelbewus arbeid uitkontrakteer en kausalisering bevorder om koste te bespaar—wat impliseer dat maatskaplike beskerming magswanbalanse in arbeidsmarkte moet aanspreek en werkgewerpraktyke moet reguleer om informaliseering te voorkom. Legalistiese teorieë beklemtoon hoe komplekse regulasies en hoë nakomingskoste werkers en firmas dwing om informeel te funksioneer, wat daarop dui dat die vereenvoudiging van registrasiestelsels en die verskaffing van aansporings tot formalisering die dekking van maatskaplike beskerming kan verbreed. Gesamentlik beklemtoon hierdie teorieë dat informaliteit heterogeen is en gevorm word deur staatsbeleide, markdinamika en sosio-politieke uitsluiting, wat beteken dat maatskaplike beskerming vir informele werkers buigsaam, inklusief en ontwerp moet wees om strukturele deelnamehindernisse te oorkom. Hierdie teorieë help my om te verstaan hoe die regering se poging deur die Rampbestuurswet om die mees kwesbares tydens die pandemie te help, bestaande gapings in maatskaplike beskerming vererger het en nuwe probleme vir sommige in die informele sektor geskep het. Die studie het bevind dat selfstandige kosverkopers die meeste uitdagings ondervind het om die streng inperking te hanteer. Regeringsreisbeperkings op die taxibedryf het negatiewe gevolge vir informele werkers gehad omdat die aantal voetgangers drasties afgeneem het weens die bepalings van die Nasionale Rampewet. Daarbenewens het klerehandelaars geweldig gely tydens die streng inperking en geen inkomste gerapporteer nie omdat die verkoop van klere gedurende hierdie tydperk verbied is as ’n maatreël om die verspreiding van die koronavirus te bekamp. Om hul lewensbestaan te transformeer, moes informele werkers met innoverende handels- en bestaansoplossings vorendag kom om die pandemie te oorleef. Hierdie hanteringsmaatreëls het tydelike indiensneming in die formele sektor van die ekonomie of pogings om die produkte en dienste wat hulle verkoop, te diversifiseer, ingesluit. Hierdie navorsing toon dat die stigting van die Bellville Informele Handelaarsvereniging informele werkers se bedingingsmag binne drieledige arbeidsverwante platforms verbeter het. Of sulke vorme van assosiasie die mag het om die struktuur van maatskaplike beskerming in die ekonomie te verander, is iets waaroor ek in die gevolgtrekking van die proefskrif besin. Doctoral 2026-04-07T05:41:21Z 2026-04-07T05:41:21Z 2026-03 Thesis https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/135631 en_ZA Stellenbosch University 291 pages : illustrations application/pdf Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| spellingShingle | Women -- Employment -- South Africa Informal sector (Economics) -- South Africa COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020 -- Economics -- South Africa Social security -- South Africa Women -- South Africa -- Social conditions UCTD Bob, Shaka Keny The effect of COVID-19 on women working in the South African informal economy and the need for social protection |
| title | The effect of COVID-19 on women working in the South African informal economy and the need for social protection |
| title_full | The effect of COVID-19 on women working in the South African informal economy and the need for social protection |
| title_fullStr | The effect of COVID-19 on women working in the South African informal economy and the need for social protection |
| title_full_unstemmed | The effect of COVID-19 on women working in the South African informal economy and the need for social protection |
| title_short | The effect of COVID-19 on women working in the South African informal economy and the need for social protection |
| title_sort | effect of covid 19 on women working in the south african informal economy and the need for social protection |
| topic | Women -- Employment -- South Africa Informal sector (Economics) -- South Africa COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020 -- Economics -- South Africa Social security -- South Africa Women -- South Africa -- Social conditions UCTD |
| url | https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/135631 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bobshakakeny theeffectofcovid19onwomenworkinginthesouthafricaninformaleconomyandtheneedforsocialprotection AT bobshakakeny effectofcovid19onwomenworkinginthesouthafricaninformaleconomyandtheneedforsocialprotection |