Abstract
There is no doubt that unemployment is one of economic problems in South Africa and finding a solution to this problem is a government priority. If this is a problem for South Africans in general, it is surely worse for those in rural areas who are plagued by challenges like poverty, lack of infrastructure, high transport costs, lack of opportunities, low levels of skilled labour and lack of access to finance. Entrepreneurship is recognised as a potential force for economic development, in particular by equipping rural people with skills and making them feel included in the country’s economy.
The entrepreneurship capacity in Mabaalstad can be built through a skills development programme, but for this to be effective, an entrepreneurship-intentions assessment can help local government to identify the existing skills within communities and compare that with what is required to see what skills are needed to take advantage of the available opportunities.
Studies have shown that two basic models can be used to assess entrepreneurial intentions of different kinds of people, these models are the Theory of Planned Behaviour , and the Shapero and Sokol’s Model of Entrepreneurial Event. Though both models can be adapted, in this study they were used in their most basic form. Although there have been some research on entrepreneurial intentions in South Africa, the research mainly focuses on students and young people, not on adults. Studies focusing on rural areas also looked at students, not adults.
Convenience sampling was used for the adults in Mabaalstad. A quantitative study design was chosen and a paper-based self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation and multiple regression analysis.
The findings of this study revealed that the adults in Mabaalstad had strong entrepreneurial intentions. All the variables of the two models and entrepreneurial education were found to have a positive relationship with entrepreneurial intentions and were shown to be statistically significant, though only four variables were found to influence entrepreneurial intentions: personal attitude, perceived behavioural control, propensity to act and perceived feasibility. Although there are limitations to this study, it can assist policymakers in knowing what they can focus on to promote rural entrepreneurship.
Key words: entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial intention, rural entrepreneurship, dependent variable, independent variables