STEVEN ZWANE | Side hustles are not sideshows but bedrock of new economy

SA stands at a crossroads. With youth unemployment above 60%, limited job creation from formal businesses, and deep-rooted inequalities, one question looms: how do we unlock economic participation and dignity for millions excluded from opportunity?

The answer lies not in policy papers or corporate boardrooms — but in the braai stands, WhatsApp storefronts, backyard salons and street corners of our communities. It lies in the side hustle.

Often dismissed as informal or short-term, side hustles are in fact economically essential and socially transformative. They are where entrepreneurship begins, skills are sharpened, and hope is monetised into action.

Side hustles are not new. From the mamas selling amagwinya (fat cakes) at school gates to mechanics fixing cars behind their homes, hustle has always been part of township life, long before it was acknowledged by economic planners. These weren’t hobbies. They were the first expressions of black economic agency under successive exclusionary systems. Today, they remain strategic levers for survival, innovation and self-reliance.

This isn’t just a South African story. Across Africa — from Nigeria’s tech traders to Kenya’s “jua kali” artisans — the hustle is not a trend. It’s tradition. And it is growing.

In the rise of the global gig and creator economies, side hustles have emerged as a viable entry point into the economy, especially where jobs are scarce and access to capital is limited. Unlike traditional small businesses, side hustles are:

• Low-barrier — a smartphone, data and skill are often enough to begin.
• Digitally enabled — platforms like WhatsApp, TikTok and Yoco turn hustlers into CEOs.
• Culturally rooted — side hustles speak to real, local needs with creativity and grit.

Side hustlers balancing jobs and businesses develop rare qualities including time management (every hour is accounted for) productivity (focused, lean and adaptive) as well as grit (sharpened by pressure, driven by purpose).

Let me share five stories that support my theory and that I hope will inspire others and hopefully get us thinking.

Sheldon Tatchell of Legends Barbershop started cutting hair on a friend’s stoep while working full-time. Today, Legends operates in five countries with 70 stores and over 600 employees.

For Ntuthuko Shezi of Livestock Wealth, what started as a weekend experiment in cattle investment became a global agri-fintech platform.

Rita Zwane of Imbizo Shisanyama (MaZwane) started from a container in Thembisa serving factory workers and she built one of SA’s most loved township cuisine brands.

Kennedy Odede of Shofco (Shining Hope for Communities) in Kenya was once a peanut seller in Kibera but ended up building one of Africa’s largest slum-based NGOs, serving more than 2.4-million people.

Theo Baloyi of Bathu Sneakers sold sneakers from the boot of his car. Today, Bathu is a pan-African footwear brand.

These stories prove that side hustles aren’t distractions. They are launch pads for scalable, sustainable and socially impactful enterprises.

SA’s National Development Plan envisions that 90% of jobs will come from small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by 2030. Yet our systems still favour formal businesses with paperwork and capital, ignoring the grassroots hustle economy that’s already producing jobs and brands. This is not sustainable.

We must expand our thinking and treat side hustles as pipelines into formal entrepreneurship, gateways to local innovation and township revitalisation and catalysts for youth inclusion and dignity.

Side hustles are reshaping economies across Africa and beyond — from Lagos to Khayelitsha, Manila to Atlanta. They are a global language of resilience and reinvention. SA can lead a pan-African reimagining that turns informal grit into opportunity.

But no hustler builds alone. The growth of these entrepreneurs was enabled by, among others, SA’s township economy framework (still evolving but promising), youth development incubators like the National Youth Development Agency, the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation and the Youth Leadership Enterprise Development, among others.

Also contributing to this are pan-African networks like Tony Elumelu Foundation, Ashoka, and MEST Africa.

We need to invest in what works and fix what doesn’t. We just need to give every township hustler belief, visibility and investment.

Side hustles are not side issues. They are the foundation of a new economy — one that is inclusive, bold and rooted in lived experience.

The side hustle is not just how we survive. It’s how we build. It’s how we rise.

• Dr Zwane is a Nelson Mandela scholar and managing executive of group corporate citizenship at Absa. He writes in his personal capacity.