Resumo

MONARENG, Luther Lebogang; CASTELEIJN, Daleen  e  FRANZSEN, Denise. The occupation of self-employment in South African informal microenterprises. S. Afr. j. occup. ther. [online]. 2024, vol.54, n.1, pp.22-33. ISSN 2310-3833.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17195/2310-3383/2024/vol54no1a4.

INTRODUCTION: Self-employment, in which individuals work for themselves in a small business or microenterprise to earn an income or generate a salary, has been encouraged to facilitate employment opportunities in South Africa. However, participation in self-employment within the community served by professionals such as occupational therapists is limited by many factors, including effective government initiatives, such as implementing the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) policies. To enable individuals and community participation in this type of work for those with occupational dysfunction, mainly persons with disabilities, professionals such as occupational therapists need to understand the structural, contextual and occupational outcomes related to self-employment. Based on the Framework for Occupational Justice, this study explored the occupation of self-employment in microenterprises in the low-resourced urban community of Alexandra Township. METHOD: A quantitative descriptive non-experimental design study was used to identify informal microenterprises in the community using a transect walk and community mapping. Structured interviews were conducted to complete a questionnaire with key informants (service providers and business owners) who provided perceptions on factors that impacted the occupational outcomes of microenterprises. RESULTS: Structural and contextual factors from the participants' experience resulted in unjust occupational outcomes, which indicates that occupational rights, particularly participation, choice and balance, were negatively affected by the lack of opportunities, such as jobs. Occupational marginalisation and imbalance were reported since many businesses lacked adequate and appropriate space for trade. Some business owners, however, reported just occupational outcomes related to the occupational right for meaningful occupation in providing a service to the community and financial income to support themselves and their families. CONCLUSION: Occupational therapists need to play various active roles in raising the consciousness of unjust occupational outcomes and support for just occupational outcomes that are achieved in engagement in self-employment in informal microenterprises. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Occupational therapists should take note of the factors and occupational outcomes of being self-employed identified in this study and consider the roles they could play in expediting success in this occupation for clients. Occupational therapists could assume: • A collaborative role, such as referring and working with various key role players or sectors in the interest of sourcing and providing opportunities for skills development for those entering self-employment, particularly in entrepreneurial training. This may include working with the government (e.g., Department of Labour and Small Enterprise Development Agency), private sector (e.g., yes4youth), other professions (social workers and industrial psychologists) and organisations for persons with disabilities (e.g., Disabled People South Africa). • A researcher role by conducting further research in this field, e.g., the development of an evidence-based framework on self-employment for occupational therapists. More research is still needed on, e.g., domains such as performance patterns, performance skills and client factors related to self-employment for persons with disabilities. • An educator's role by incorporating and teaching content on self-employment as an occupation when training occupational therapy students. • A clinical role, where they could assist with adaptations to the skills, tasks or environment to facilitate engagement in self-employment. Essential aspects to consider by the occupational therapist together with their clients during the collaborative occupational therapy process include, but are not limited to, o The client's motivation, dedication and whether self-employment is the client's primary choice. o The client's potential to be self-employed and their level of resilience in dealing with factors affecting self-employment in the informal labour sector.

Palavras-chave : informal sector; structural factors; contextual factors; occupational outcomes; Alexandra Township.

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