SECTION 7: TELEPHONIC PROFILING REPORT

SECTION 7: TELEPHONIC PROFILING REPORT

Figure 21: Designation of Respondent in the Business

48.1% of the 54 respondents profiled were managers in the business while 18.5% were the owners of the business. 9.3% of respondents indicated that they were directors of the business with low percentages of respondents indicating titles such as:

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  Administrator
  
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  Assistant
  
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  Chairman
  
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  CEO
  
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  Partner
  
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  Sales Rep
  
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  Accountant
  

Figure 22: Gender: Male vs. Female

37.0% of respondents were female and 63.0% were male, indicating the rising level of female entrepreneurs in the manufacturing sector. This trend is almost in line with the established firm owner/manager ratio of 62% Male and 38% Female involvement in entrepreneurial activity during 2009 which change dramatically in 2010 to 53% Male and 47% female involvement respectively (GEM South African Report 2010, M. Harrington, J. Kew and P.Kew, 2012).

It also reflects that more females are encouraged through learnerships and other government programs to enter into the manufacturing sector. Even though some of the work in the sector is very labour intensive, ownership and management is not. Females are also highly weighted in the government’s BBBEE codes and this resulted in an increase in female partnerships in recent years.

Figure 23: Respondents Split by Province

While every attempt was made to contact respondents form all of the 9 provinces in South Africa, only respondents from six of the provinces completed the interview. 48.1% of the respondents were from Gauteng, 24.1% were from the Eastern Cape 14.8% were from Kwa Zulu Natal, 5.6% from Mpumalanga, 3.7% were form Limpopo and the Western Cape respectively.

Gauteng being the manufacturing hub of South Africa in terms of metal fabrication, steel products and tooling equipment manufacturing had the highest hit rate. In the Eastern Cape the manufacturing businesses are smaller, owner managed or part of a project/co-operative.

Figure 24: Respondents Split by Manufacturing Subsector

The above graph indicates the split of respondents by manufacturing subsector. The metals subsector produced the highest number of respondents with 25.9%; most of these respondents were from metal pressing and shaping industries. 25.9% of respondents were from the Textile clothing and footwear subsector. 7.4% of respondents were from the agro – processing sector with 9.3% of respondents were from the chemicals subsector. Respondents from automotive and ICT electronics subsectors were low in numbers at 3.7% respectively. Wood and furniture contribute 5.7% of the total respondents while 11.1% of respondents were grouped together in the “other” category. The Other subsector is made up of concrete manufacturing and optical eyewear manufacturing businesses.

When asked of their educational qualifications business owners and managers in the manufacturing sector do possess some form of qualification while a low 5.6% only have secondary level education. 50% of the respondents did not answer this question which indicates that either the percentage of respondents do not posses formal qualifications or minimal qualifications. This highlights the need to promote training and education in this sector by engaging with stakeholders to register staff for training initiatives and skills development programmes at both a staff and management level. The high percentage of respondents not willing to divulge their education levels is most probably also related to the high number of Opportunity and Necessity motivated entrepreneurs in South Africa.

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  BCom Degree: Logistics, Financial Accounting
  
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  Industrial Engineering
  
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  Electrical Engineering
  
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  Mechanical Engineering
  
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  Human Resources Diploma
  
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  Accounting Diploma