Rise in informal businesses

Cape Town - The number of people running informal businesses has risen over the past four years, but remains lower than the number in 2001, Statistics SA said on Thursday.

"The number of persons running informal businesses declined from 2.3 million in 2001 to 1.1 million in 2009, and increased to 1.5 million in 2013," according to the 2013 Survey of Employers and the Self-employed (Sese) released by statistician general Pali Lehohla.

The informal businesses are predominantly run by black Africans, men, and the less well-educated.

The Sese found that 6.3% of working age people in Limpopo were involved in small businesses.

In Mpumalanga the figure was 6.1%, in Gauteng 5% and in KwaZulu-Natal 4.7%.