The Changing Post-apartheid City: Emergent Black-owned Small Enterprises in Johannesburg

Abstract

Sum m ary. This paper is con cern ed with the post-aparthe id city and the changing racial com plexion of sm all enterprises develop ing in the inner city of Joh annesburg, South A frica' s most im portan t urban centre. South A frica' s new dem ocratic govern m ent has identi® ed the support and upgrad ing of sm all enterp rises owned by black s as a priority policy issu e. Earlier researc h highligh ts a long trad ition of negative of® cial policy attitu des tow ard s black business developm ent in South A frica' s central-city areas as part of urban planning under aparth eid. Again st this back grou nd, the paper investigat es aspects of the emergen t black sm all enterp rise econ om y in post-aparth eid Joh annesburg. The resu lts are presen ted from a recen tly com pleted survey of small black enterp rises operatin g in the Joh annesburg inner city and of a series of in-depth interview s undertak en with key institu tion al actors dealin g with the city com mercial prop erty m ark et. O verall, the ® ndings point to the im portan t and changing role of the inner city as incubator for develop ing black sm all enterp rises in post-aparth eid South A frica.

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