Abstract
Poverty is a significant issue in South Africa, affecting various communities and street vending has become a common income-generating activity for sustainable livelihoods, especially in Katlehong within Ekurhuleni Municipality. The purpose of this study was to investigate the experiences and challenges of street vendors that uses income-generating activities (IGAs) for their livelihoods. The qualitative research was adopted to capture and explore the street vendors experiences, perceptions, and challenges they face while they strive to sustain their livelihood. The social development theory and sustainable livelihood framework provided context for data analysis. Thematic analysis revealed that, street vending is viewed as a source of income, street vendors experience challenges that are influenced by environmental factors and access to adequate infrastructure and finance to improve and protect street vendors on IGA’s. A purposive sampling method was utilized to select fifteen (15) street vendors who have been street vendors for three (3) or more years to participate in this study. Semi-unstructured face-to-face individual and focus group interviews were utilized to collect data on the street vendors that participated in the study. Findings reveal that street vending and IGA’s are viewed as a main a source of income for the purposes of sustainable livelihood. The study further revealed that, street vendors on IGA’s faces challenges influenced by environmental factors such as severe weather conditions, exposure to health risk, poor infrastructure, they are frequently being removed, harassed and their goods impounded by the Metro Police due to legal non-compliance with By-laws. Finally, the study recommended that social services policy makers must develop a policy that would support, protect, and cater for street vendors on IGA’s for their better improvement such as adequate infrastructure, financial assistance, and formal recognition.