The Pentecostal ‘working of talents’ (Matarenda) as a catalyst for breaking female economic dependency: Evidence from a Gauteng informal settlement

Abstract

Background: Majority of women are restricted to being financially dependent on their husbands due to cultural customs and economic hardships such as extreme poverty, unemployment, unsafe sanitation, and caregiving burdens. Pentecostal churches teach these women to use their natural skills to earn money rather than relying on employment elsewhere.
Aim: The primary goal is to help marginalised women in Gauteng informal settlements to gain economic independence and become entrepreneurs.
Setting: This study focuses on Pentecostal Christian ministries operating within informal settlements in the Gauteng province, South Africa.
Methods: The study adopts a qualitative, non-empirical methodology, examining published data and a theological framework to trace how faith-based entrepreneurial programmes operate.
Results: The study reveals that Matarenda [talents] serves as a potent instrument for promoting gender equality, effectively teaches useful business skills and subverts gender norms by elevating women to the same financial status as men in their homes.
Conclusion: Matarenda is an effective economic model which leverages religious motivation to encourage female entrepreneurship, proving that faith-based initiatives can successfully disrupt systematic financial dependency without relying on external state funding.
Contribution: The study offers policymakers a model of how religious capital can be harnessed for gender-focused economic empowerment in marginalised urban spaces.