How social security policies and economic transformation affect poverty and inequality: Lessons for South Africa

This article examines how various characteristics of social and economic policy frameworks affect poverty and inequality levels in developing countries, principally in Botswana and Mauritius. The research findings suggest that poverty and inequality are lower in countries with generous and broad-based – rather than pro-poor – social security policies, and where social policies are complemented by economic policies promoting economic transformation rather than mere economic growth. While South Africa's challenges of combating poverty and inequality are shaped by its own historical context, the lessons from other countries offer the opportunity to reflect on the social consequences of various social and economic policy mixtures. In particular, it may be worth considering how to bridge the divide between the economically productive contributors to social security policies and the economically marginalised beneficiaries of such policies.     

Race and social organization: An economic perspective

Conclusion Improvements in the economic, political, and social status of Blacks are joint effects. Improvement in one is unlikely without concommitant improvements in the others; this is a multiedge sword.Success in any of the areas is correlated with improvement in the others—synergism. On the other hand, failure to realize the interdependencies makes success or improvement in any of the areas unlikely.     

Employment and growth in South Africa: An agricultural perspective

South African agriculture is analysed with respect to labour‐related structural trends, the impact of a change in agricultural production on production in certain selected Individual sectors and its relative potential with regard to direct and indirect industry multipliers. The paper concludes with some policy aspects that stem from the different analyses.     

Welfare policy and the transformation of social security in South Africa

Social security is based on the belief that all citizens should be protected by the state against the main vicissitudes of life: old age, unemployment, disability and sickness. The success of welfare programmes internationally in improving poverty, income distribution and unemployment is appraised. Income maintenance in South Africa, which is discriminatory and ineffective in meeting real human needs, is examined. Although welfare should not promote dependence, neither should it be so hard to come by as to punish the poor.     

The contribution of social accounting matrices to economic enquiry in South Africa: A review∗

In 1986 the first social accounting matrix (SAM) for South Africa was published. Subsequent publications are reviewed in which this SAM was used in the exploration of economic structure and policies, particularly as these relate to income and expenditure patterns and distribution. The rapidly expanding international literature on the subject of SAMs is considered. Potential further applications and the requirements for drawing up a revised and updated SAM for South Africa are investigated.     

Financing municipal BOOTs in South Africa: The lenders' perspective

South Africa's first build‐own‐operate‐transfer (BOOT) project for municipal services was signed in late December 1998 by the city of Durban and a private project company associated with French conglomerate Vivendi. The project will treat waste water for sale to industrial customers who would otherwise use more expensive potable water in their manufacturing processes. The project structure, with its multiple contracts and supporting agreements, guarantees and complex shareholding relationships, represents a sophisticated analytical challenge for lenders, whose financing will ultimately be at risk in the deal. Development finance institutions, such as the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), must review such projects in even greater detail because of their mandate to promote sustainable infrastructure development in the region. This article presents the DBSA ‘s analytical perspective on the Durban BOOT project in an effort to capture the complex, innovative and strongly developmental character of what, for South Africa, is a ground‐breaking public‐private partnership project.     

Civil society and the right to have access to social security in South Africa

This article examines transformation in South Africa's social security system from a human rights and civil society perspective. Three claims are made: rights can be realised by civil society organisations, civil society organisations can transform social security, and the realisation of social security rights by civil society organisations can give us a means to address many of the problems identified with the involvement of NGOs in development. The basis of this assessment is a performative conception of rights, derived from the Grootboom legal judgment, which would allow civil society action to address the problems inherent in the social security system in South Africa. An analysis is thus made of this kind of public action and it is shown how it can be subsumed under the 1996 South African Constitution, and how the Constitution could transform civil society organisations' social action. Civil society action, it is proposed, could be valuable in further reforming the South African social security system, and in realising rights as autonomous social action.     

Population policy in South Africa: a critical perspective

The argument in this article is that population growth and the concept of balancing resources against population growth is flawed when the context, in this case South Africa, is gross inequalities in resource distribution. The fact is that causes of poverty are located in the social and political structures which give people unequal access to existing resources or international aid. Population trends reflect the mode of production of that society. It is argued that the Malthusian law of population and the theory of demographic transition is ahistorical and inaccurate. The theory does not explain why population growth rates change. In South Africa, fertility reflects lack of control over one's life and poverty. Migrant labor in South Africa undermined normal social institutions and disrupted family life. Government has emphasized a fear of a future population crisis because of resource shortages and a fear of the growing black population. The South African population development program is extracted and discussed. Questions are raised about the theory of demographic transition, the way resource allocation is ascertained, the relationship between resources and population in a specific area, and the relationship between population growth and development in general. The theory of demographic transition is examined and the Western influences which contributed to population growth through requests for changes in sexual mores and the effects of colonization. When demographic transition theory postulates that mortality rates decline with industrialization as a result of access to medical care and an improved diet, it doesn't take into account the discriminatory health care allocation under apartheid, or the displacement of rural people from their land and undermining of the rural peasantry. Separate development has led to inferior schooling and lack of access to skilled employment. In discussing the availability of resources in South Africa, the question is raised as to whether there is an absolute limit to water, or whether water management or water conservation is at issue, as in the case example of the Transkei. What is economical reflects political decisions about national priorities when consideration is given to alternative strategies for increasing the water supply, or solving pollution problems. The potential to feed South Africans is substantiated, and the problems of maldistribution identified. In establishing the balance between family planning and development, the Population Development Program (PDP) expresses contradictory aims; i.e., seeking community involvement of a politically disenfranchised population. The concept of overpopulation and the application of population control programs in South Africa does not address the problems of poverty and powerlessness.     

Local economic development: Policy and practice in South Africa

The policy of local economic development (LED) is currently attracting considerable attention in government and development circles in South Africa. This article seeks to critically examine and assess the key contextual considerations which influence LED, its emergence and its chances of success. In this regard, the notions of post‐Fordism and the important role of government are examined. It then outlines and assesses evolving LED policy and practice in the country in the light of current experiences in various centres. The article concludes with an examination of various practical considerations which appear to be affecting the further application of the concept in the country. These issues are deemed to be of relevance to policymakers if LED is to be successfully implemented.     

Enforced informalisation: The case of liquor retailers in South Africa

After a decade of unsuccessful efforts to migrate informal businesses to South Africa's formal economy there remains little understanding of the dynamics in this sector, especially as regards micro-enterprises. International literature discusses ‘exit’ and ‘exclusion’, holding that poor law enforcement is the reason for the persistence and growth of the informal economy. Through examining the informal liquor retail (shebeen) sector, we demonstrate that enforcement actually produces informality in this sector. Illustrated with examples from one of our sites in Delft South, Cape Town, the article describes key aspects of shebeen business practice, including the responses to greater law enforcement. Notably, instead of closing shop or facing the hurdles of compliance, the great majority of shebeens continue to evade the law by downscaling their activities. This finding has implications not just for liquor policy in South Africa, but for understanding both theories of formalisation and theories of the informal economy.     

Asian economic integration: a perspective on South Asia

This paper argues in favor of open regionalism and continent-based integration in Asia. These are the effective instruments of outward-oriented development. The enlargement of trading blocs into continent-based integration also serves as a countervailing power to stem the excesses of economic globalism. The case made in the paper shows the need for institutional changes for promoting economic development. Institutional changes along with open regionalism are essential to enhancing outward-oriented development in South Asia. Respectable progress has been made in these areas across the continents in general, and in Asia in particular (ASEAN, SAARC, APEC). Efforts on these initiatives must be redoubled as we start the 21st century.     

Unemployment and aids: the social‐democratic challenge for South Africa

Addressing Aids and unemployment is one of the greatest challenges facing South Africa at present. Health and welfare interventions will be costly and are likely to meet with resistance from taxpayers. Expanding employment (which will help alleviate poverty and expand the pool of taxpayers) is thus necessary. An inclusive social accord could help, but only if organised labour is prepared to make concessions, as was the case in the new social accords in Australia, Ireland and the Netherlands.