Similar to the state of black economic participation, women dominate the lowest end of the enterprise spectrum. Therefore the case for women entrepreneurship development is equally deserving of institutional support. Research has shown that there has been increased dependency on the income of women due to economic recession and high unemployment rates. It is estimated that 30 percent of households in South Africa are women headed, and that poverty rates are 50 percent higher among women than their male counterparts. In spite of this, women tend to contribute a larger portion of their personal income towards family welfare.

Policy interventions designed to alleviate the constraints in the small business sector have often hot been beneficial to women entrepreneurs. The main reason for this is the different circumstances that women entrepreneurs operate under. Firstly, given their traditional roles as mothers and housekeepers, women have not had a good opportunity to accumulate start-up capital, which normally is constituted by personal savings. Secondly, those who have worked received lower wages due to discriminatory practices. Thirdly, women lacked in terms of personal asset base. Therefore in the event of loan finance availability, collateral requirements to underpin loans further prevented meaningful women participation. Fourthly, women enterprise are ore vulnerable to the high rate of crime and violence.

Consequent to the unfavourable circumstances that women entrepreneurs operate under, there is a significant decrease of self-employed women in the upper enterprise size classes. Female entrepreneurs are more visible in the textile, clothing and leather manufacturing subsectors. This relates to their relatively higher involvement in sewing and dressmaking enterprises. These are the traditional areas of women involvement and efforts should be made to bridge such traditional divides.

The situation of women in the micro enterprise sector is finally receiving the attention of researchers and policy makers. According to the October Household Survey 1995, the majority of women are survivalists compared with only 23% of men. In rural areas, more than 60% of women entrepreneurs are in the survivalist sector. Going up the enterprise continuum, 75% of males are in the micro and very small sectors compared with 51% of women.

Throughout the country, male-owned enterprises outnumber those run by women by more than two to one. The gender breakdown within industrial sectors shows that half of these women-run enterprises are in the trade sectors. This represents mostly spaza shops and shebeens. Clothes manufacturing and community, social and personal services, are the next most important categories of enterprise in which women participate.

Women's circumstances clearly indicate the need for specifically designed interventions to integrate women directly into the mainstream economy. The welfare gains of women empowerment overshadow those of their male counterparts. Research has shown that women's activities play an important role in household survival and human capital investment. Therefore the creation of a conducive climate to women entrepreneurs will provide a strong impetus for economic growth.

Self Employed Women by Subsector

Sector	Number of Women	% of Total in Subsector
Trade and allied services	111 000	38
Textile, clothing and leather manufacturing	31 000	82
Social & related community services	28 000	52
Real estate and business services	12 000	24
Agriculture	10 500	13
Catering and accommodation services	6 500	46
Building and construction	4 500	5
Food and beverages manufacturing	4 500	60
Recreational and cultural services	3 500	43
Wood, paper and furniture manufacturing	3 400	22
Transport and storage	1 800	4
Non-metallic mineral products manufacturing	1 400	33
Insurance	1 100	18
Financial intermediation	1 000	22
Other manufacturing	900	19
Basic metal industries and machinery	600	5
Chemicals & plastic products manufacturing	600	19
Communication	300	23
Other mining and quarrying	250	9
Forestry	250	25
Fishing	100	7
Total Self-Employed Women	223 200	31

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