Thobeka Tshitshi, Jurie van Vuuren, Clint Davies
Abstract
South Africa faces a pressing socio-economic challenge, with approximately 18 million people (one-third of the population) receiving social grants. While entrepreneurship is often championed as a solution to unemployment, its role in reducing grant dependency is underexamined. This study investigates the relationship between entrepreneurial skills and planned entrepreneurial behaviour among social grant recipients in Gauteng Province.
Using a descriptive, cross-sectional survey design, data were collected from 400 SASSA beneficiaries aged 18 to 75 via a structured questionnaire. The study assessed entrepreneurial awareness, skills, and intentions to inform strategies that foster self-employment and economic independence.
A triangulated analytical approach was adopted: correlation analysis confirmed direct associations between entrepreneurial skills and intention, ANOVA revealed significant group differences, and all 16 hypotheses were supported. Notably, ANOVA results showed that recipients willing to start a business without grant support had a higher mean Attitude score (4.35) than those unwilling (3.45), validating the influence of self-efficacy on entrepreneurial intention.
These findings suggest that strengthening entrepreneurial skills can meaningfully enhance entrepreneurial intention, particularly when individual willingness is present. Targeted government training programmes may thus serve as a pathway out of long-term grant dependence.
Using a descriptive, cross-sectional survey design, data were collected from 400 SASSA beneficiaries aged 18 to 75 via a structured questionnaire. The study assessed entrepreneurial awareness, skills, and intentions to inform strategies that foster self-employment and economic independence.
A triangulated analytical approach was adopted: correlation analysis confirmed direct associations between entrepreneurial skills and intention, ANOVA revealed significant group differences, and all 16 hypotheses were supported. Notably, ANOVA results showed that recipients willing to start a business without grant support had a higher mean Attitude score (4.35) than those unwilling (3.45), validating the influence of self-efficacy on entrepreneurial intention.
These findings suggest that strengthening entrepreneurial skills can meaningfully enhance entrepreneurial intention, particularly when individual willingness is present. Targeted government training programmes may thus serve as a pathway out of long-term grant dependence.