Community engagement and the digital economy: Impact on township economic development in the Emfuleni Local Municipality

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.