Social entrepreneurship and networking challenges: Impact on sustainable development in South Africa

Abstract

The overwhelming complexity of achieving sustainable development globally, including in South Africa, requires the networking and partnerships of all stakeholders. This paper reports networking challenges affecting social entrepreneurship’s contribution to sustainable development. The study aimed to investigate and analyze the impact of networking challenges on social entrepreneurship contribution to sustainable development in the townships in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province. The study is quantitative and was conducted in three KZN township communities. The sample consisted of 90 social entrepreneurs selected using a snowball sampling technique. The respondents completed a self-administered close-ended questionnaire (employing a five-point Likert scale). The data were analyzed using SPSS (27.0 version). Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.808 indicated the reliability of the questionnaire as a measuring instrument for this study. The study revealed that lack of partnerships and networking with other social entrepreneurs, insufficient networking and partnership with corporate organizations, absence of networking and partnerships with government, and lack of platform use for social networking, affect social entrepreneurs’ activities. A chi-square test also revealed that all the tested variables were statistically significant, with a p-value = .000.

The influence of society’s perception, social networking and social impact measurement on access to finance of social enterprises: Perspective of eThekwini Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

“…In SA, a lack of a specific legal framework that governs SEs remains , leaving their population unknown, with no specific database for a sample frame to be developed (GIBS, 2018;Dzomonda, 2021). This study adopted similar inclusion criteria to other studies (Dzomonda, 2021;Akoh & Lekhanya, 2022), based on the following: the SE has been operating for more than a year, pursues only social issues and not personal gains, is registered with the DSD or intends to do so in the near future, and engages in an income generating venture. Upon meeting the inclusion criteria, the researcher requested participants to recommend other participants, and this process continued until the target sample size or saturation point was reached (Parker et al, 2019).…”

“…Social networking comprises the interactions between SEs and other relevant stakeholders that would enhance the achievement of a common social goal. Furthermore, the broader the relationship between SEs, as well as with other actors in society, such as governments and corporate organizations, paves the way for the mobilisation of financial resources (Akoh & Lekhanya, 2022). A study conducted by the British Council (2020) highlighted 50 percent SEs in SA lack access to financial resources from potential investors, due to insufficient relevant contacts and poor social networking.…”

Mapping the Landscape of Sustainability in Social Media: A Bibliometric Analysis and Research Trends

“…[62] Carella and Monachesi, [63] conducted a behavioral analysis of data from social media to assess the elderly people's attitude towards environmental issues and they argue that may exert a significant influence on involving the elderly in care practices of other humans and especially of nature, thereby actively contributing to sustainable development. A study by Akoh and Lekhanya, [64] aiming to better understand the impact of networking challenges on social entrepreneurs and their contribution to long-term development concluded that networking issues continue to be a barrier to the value generation of social entrepreneurs. Alexander, [65] studied the difficulties encountered by a group of interns and students working for a non-profit sister firm of a private US-based property development company planning to establish a "sustainable city" in the Panamanian jungle.…”