Lawrence Mpele Lekhanya
The emphasis of this paper is to present an exploratory study on the support structures for strengthening social innovation in South Africa. The concept of social innovation is still an issue of concern in South Africa, however, the understanding and knowledge of it is sketchy among South African society. The study aimed to identify support structures available for social innovation development in South Africa, with empirical data collected from 224 participants living in Durban metropolitan areas. This research was quantitative in nature and a 5-point Likert-scaled survey questionnaire was used to collect data from selected areas. The findings of the research revealed not much support structures available for social innovation and further showed many of the participants remained neutral with regards to whether and what type of support structures exist for strengthening social innovation in South Africa. This research will benefit affiliated stakeholders and local nationals with an interest in this sector, as well as policymakers, by introducing a new understanding of social innovation and how it can improve the livelihood of South African people. The study was confined to Durban metropolitan areas only, followed a quantitative technique and small sample; all these factors limited the scope of the study and generalization of results should be used with care. Therefore, further research with a large sample is recommended.