Abstract
Digitalisation has transformed the traditional economy and entrepreneurship. The accelerated use of digital technologies, e-commerce and social media platforms has enhanced the digital economy, introducing a range of opportunities for business innovation. Digital entrepreneurship has been portrayed as a means of empowerment for women globally; however, reaching this potential is largely influenced by the socio-cultural context, structural inequalities, and factors such as race, class, and gender. In South Africa, a country with a history of colonialism and apartheid, participation in entrepreneurship is still uneven. Although the unemployment rate is high among Coloured populations, entrepreneurship participation rates remain low among Coloured women. This study aims to investigate how the socio-cultural context and intersecting factors shape Coloured women entrepreneurs' participation in the digital economy. The exploration consisted of 11 semi-structured interviews who are running informal small businesses across multiple lifestyle sectors.
The findings illustrated that Coloured women entrepreneurs are primarily pioneering businesses to provide for their families, supplement existing incomes and to pursue passions for community building. These women make use of various digital devices, applications and social media platforms to supplement their business operations. More importantly, these Coloured women still experience forms of structural, material and intersectional exclusions. The weight of these exclusions is amplified by prevailing discriminations and stereotypes. Despite that, these women resiliently use digital entrepreneurship to empower themselves and others, resisting socio-economic marginalisation. Their businesses not only serve as a source of income and independence but also as a beacon of hope for communities, thus redefining typical racial and gender exclusion. The study contributes to the literature on digital entrepreneurship, offering an intersectional analysis with the use of Black Cyberfeminism. Also, the special focus on Coloured women serves to add to the dearth of existing literature on the Coloured population in South Africa.