Abstract:
This study aims to understand the research problem of whether socio-economic
conditions in Emfuleni Local Municipality’s townships, where unemployment rates are
as high as at 60%, double the national average, can be addressed through community
engagement and the digital economy. The research uncovers that existing policy and
approaches seem to be failing to stem this problem. Thus, it is becoming imperative
for current policies to be critically reviewed, and any shortcomings be systematically
addressed, in order to galvanise the strained South African economy. It is becoming
critical that an understanding of factors that can be leveraged to turnaround this
pattern is established. Hence, a quantitative research approach using questionnaires
and stratified random sampling was adopted, as it best enabled for the views of the
sample population to be recorded through empirical and clearly defined parameters,
whilst also allowing for generalisation of results obtained. In doing so, this study has
to some degree, established that community engagement and the digital economy can
be used to address the economic challenges in Emfuleni townships.
Results from earlier research have also shown that a combination of effective
community engagement and growing the digital economy, can lead to economic
development. Sunter (1992) stated that technology and its effects are inevitable, and
historical trends highlight those technological advancements are usually followed by
economic upswings. And that countries with higher societal engagement and
technological indices, showed higher levels of economic development. Similarly,
findings from this study and the data analysis conducted, point to a conclusion that the
effective use of community engagement and the digital economy can have a positive
impact on the economic development of townships in the Emfuleni area. Thus, leading
to the reduction of poverty, inequality, and unemployment in those townships.
Despite the limitations identified, it is recommended that results of this study should
be considered as preliminary inputs for an improved future study, as it could be crucial
for helping affected communities, their local municipality, and the business sector to
better align and improve the effectiveness of their local economies for mutual benefits.
