Hawkers in South Africa's small urban centres: Planning and policy

The development of strategies for the ‘appropriate management’ of urban growth applies with equal force to small and to large urban centres. In this paper one key aspect in the evolution of appropriate management strategies in South Africa's smaller urban centres is addressed, namely the policy attitudes and practices towards hawkers. Against a background review of the international experience of changing attitudes towards street traders, empirical material is presented on local policies and planning regarding hawkers in a cross‐section of South Africa's smaller urban centres. Although the overall picture is dominated by the reluctance of urban authorities to innovate accommoda‐tionist planning, some interesting exceptions are noted.     

South Africa's integrated environmental management policy at the crossroads of conservation and development

Sustainable development, as formulated in the 1980 World Conservation Strategy and subsequent elaborations, is being advocated in South Africa by the state through development of an integrated environmental management policy. This policy, however, does not adequately reflect the principles of sustainable development and therefore it cannot provide appropriate guidelines for the practice of integrated environmental management Accordingly, it may be said that South Africa has reached a crossroads in its quest for sustainable development.     

The assessment: knowledge, skills, and competitiveness

The autumn 1988 issue of the Oxford Review of Economic Policyconsidered the UK's deficiencies in vocational education andtraining (VET). It was there that Finegold and Soskice firstpopularized the notion of the 'low skills/low quality' equilibrium.This Assessment introduces a range of articles which discussdevelopments in the decade that has passed since then. It arguesthat, despite massive policy initiatives, there has been onlylimited improvement in the UK's relative VET performance. Considerableprogress has been made in analysis of market failures affectingthe supply of skills, and in analysis of the possible causesand consequences of low employer demand for skills (systemsfailure). The recent Competitiveness White Paper reflects thisimproved understanding. However, there is still an imperfectappreciation of the nature of skills and of their contributionto the development of a more competitive, higher value-addedeconomy. The article ends by suggesting how progress might bemade on this front.     

Wage policy,competitiveness and risk management: The internal conflicts of dutch economic policy

Zusammenfassung Lohnpolitik, Wettbewerbsf?higkeit und Risiko-Management: Die internen Konflikte der niederl?ndischen Wirtschaftspolitik. - Dieser Aufsatz untersucht empirisch einige m?gliche Gründe für die Fortführung der Einkommenspolitik in einer Wirtschaft, in der die Inflationsrate unter 2 vH gefallen ist. In der Annahme, da\ die Politiker wenigstens versuchen sollten, rationale Entscheidungen im Hinblick auf die offiziell genannten Ziele zu treffen, wird die übliche Gewi\heits-?quivalenz-Strategie (die gegenüber dem Risiko invariant ist) mit einer Risiko-Vermeidungs-Strategie verglichen. Fast der ganze Unterschied zwischen den beiden Strategien liegt in der Art, wie die relative Wettbewerbsf?higkeit benutzt wird, um Produktion, Au\enhandel und Besch?ftigung zu f?rdern oder die Kaufkraft zu schützen. Die Wettbewerbsf?higkeit wird über die relativen Lohnkosten und eine Einkommenspolitik kontrolliert. Der Gewi\heits-?quivalenz-Ansatz verlangt eine Beschr?nkung der Lohnsteigerungen, w?hrend die Risiko-Vermeidungs-Strategie eine anpassungsf?hige Einkommenspolitik einschlie\t.

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Resumen Política salarial, competitividad y control de riesgo: los conflictos internos en la polftica económica holandesa. - Este trabajo examina empíricamente algunas motivaciones posibles para el mantenimiento de una política de ingresos en una economía en la cual la tasa de inflación ha caído por debajo del 2 por ciento. Asumiendo que los políticos responsables debieran de por lo menos intentar decidir racionalmente de acuerdo a los objetivos indicados en publicaciones oficiales, la tradicional estrategia del equivalente de certeza (que es invariante frente al riesgo) es comparada con una estrategia de aversión al riesgo. Casi en su totalidad, la diferencia entre las dos consiste en la forma en la cual se utiliza la competitividad relativa para promover la producción, el comercio y el empleo o para proteger el poder de compra. La competitividad es controlada através de los costos relativos de trabajo y de la política de ingresos. El método del equivalente de certeza requiere que el aumento de los salarios sea restringido, mientras que el de aversión al riesgo involucra una política de ingresos acomodaticia.

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Résumé Politique des salaires, capacité concurrentielle et management de risque: Les conflits internes de la politique économique des Pays-Bas. - Cet article examine empiriquement quelques motivations possibles de maintenir la politique de revenu dans une économie où l’inflation est tombée au-dessous de 2 pourcent. En supposant que les politiciens devraient au moins essayer à faire des choix rationnels pour les buts indiqués dans les publications officielles, la stratégie habituelle de certitude équivalente (qui est invariée vis-à-vis le risque) est comparée avec une stratégie qui évite le risque. Presque la différence totale entre les deux stratégies est dérivée de la manière comment la capacité concurrentielle relative est utilisée pour promouvoir la production, le commerce extérieur et l’emploi, ou pour protéger le pouvoir d’achat. La capacité concurrentielle est controllée via des co?ts relatifs de la main d’∄uvre et une politique de revenu. L’approche de certitude équivalente rend nécessaire de restreindre la hausse des salaires pendant qu’une stratégie qui évite le risque implique une politique de revenu accommodante.

     

Reviewing South Africa's marketing and trade policies for genetically modified products

South Africa is unique in that it has commercialised genetically modified (GM) crops and has a functional biosafety system, which allows for trade in both GM and non-GM crops, despite being surrounded by countries banning the use of GM products. This paper analyses the past achievements and evolving changes in marketing and trade policies for GM products in South Africa. A quantitative analysis of South Africa's GM imports and exports demonstrates the success of South Africa's flexible regulatory system. Yet a review of recent reforms indicates a trend towards more rigid trade and marketing regulations of GM products. This paper suggests five policy recommendations to improve rather than rigidify regulations and allow South Africa to adapt to global changes, manage risks and take advantage of potentially promising new GM technologies.     

A comparison of poverty in South Africa's nine provinces

Poverty in South Africa varies greatly across the nine provinces. An accurate estimation of relative poverty shares is important because they serve as key indices for targeting social expenditure. In this article we test the robustness of provincial poverty rankings against changes in measurement methodology. In recent years, a large body of international literature has developed concerning the choice of an appropriate poverty line and the construction of more appropriate poverty measures. This article uses two of these recent developments ‐ the concept of a poverty critical range in place of a single poverty line and distribution‐sensitive decomposable poverty measures — to re‐examine provincial poverty. Results are checked across two recent national data sets.     

Measuring our competitiveness - a critical examination of the IMD and WEF competitiveness indicators for South Africa

This article examines the competitiveness indicators that are produced by the highly influential World Economic Forum (WEF) and the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), specifically in respect of South Africa. Neither provides a clear and persuasive guide as to South Africa's overall competitiveness ranking, nor how this has altered over time. The problem resides principally in the assessment of technological capacities and the contribution that technology makes to overall competitiveness. The IMD and the WEF approaches to technology diverge significantly, but both are inadequate. As a consequence, there is a substantial discrepancy between the two as regards South Africa's current overall competitive ness ranking. Neither individually, nor collectively, are these competitiveness indicators - as they are currently constituted - useful as a guide to policy.     

Transforming South Africa's cities: Prospects for the economic development of urban townships

This article identifies and evaluates the range of strategies being used to generate economic activity close to and within townships, focusing on the three metropolitan areas of Gauteng, the Durban Functional Region and metropolitan Cape Town. After placing townships in the context of the larger city and the overall strategy of local economic development, the article examines the various types of strategies that have been proposed to stimulate and support economic activity: the currently dominant spatial strategies, the provision of services infrastructure, the development of economic infrastructure, small business support services, and public works.     

Water management options for food security in South Africa: scenarios,simulations and policy implications

Recent research activities of the International Water Management Institute on water and food security have led to the development of a user‐friendly simulation model, Podium, to test national policy options on water allocation to different uses. This article presents an application of the model to South Africa, where water resources development and management constitute a high national priority. Data on demography, nutritional requirements, food imports and exports, climate and hydrology are used to create scenarios about meeting future water requirements for food production while simultaneously satisfying the water requirements of other sectors. The simulation results highlight the need to improve productivity in irrigation and also intensify rainfed agriculture to avoid future food insecurity, especially under high population projections. Merely expanding irrigated areas will not make significant impacts on national‐level food security. There also appears to be scope for increasing domestic per capita water consumption without altering current diversions for agriculture and other requirements.     

Does poverty constrain migration in South Africa? Evidence,explanations and implications

There are indications that poor people may face obstacles to their rural–urban migration. This article pursues the question of whether this is the case in the South African context. It argues for the importance of longitudinal data, which are not available at present, to answer this question conclusively. Levels of education can be used as a proxy for income levels, and the article examines recently published multivariate data in this regard. However, using education as a proxy for income is problematic, because education has an independent effect on migration rates through its selection of those with the skill levels demanded by the labour market. The article develops an argument about the constraining effects of the costs of migration and the role of social networks in migration and ends by demonstrating how the costs of migration can solve a number of puzzles presented by empirical research on migration.     

Towards accommodationist planning in South Africa's secondary centres: The case of hawker deregulation

International development agencies are devoting increased attention to the role of secondary or intermediate cities in national urban development strategies. In planning the development of intermediate‐sized centres, stress is placed on the need to support indigenous enterprise, including the informal sector. Against a background review of literature concerning the informal sector within secondary cities, this paper examines the extent to which a group of South Africa's intermediate‐sized cities are pursuing programmes supporting the informal sector. The question of policies towards hawking is investigated within the settings of East London, Kimberley, Bloemfontein, Pietersburg and Pietermaritzburg. It is concluded that accommodationist planning is being undertaken on only a limited scale in these secondary centres.     

The policy implications of an appropriate development strategy for Southern Africa

The development strategies of the past have not lead to meaningful development results. The fruits of economic growth do not automatically reach the poor groups. The conventional development approach (growth strategy) is unable to produce any significant development results, nor is it capable of eradicating poverty. This experience has culminated in a more appropriate strategy for the circumstances in the LDCs. In a previous article in this journal, the magnitude of the poverty problem and the conceptual framework of this relatively new approach were discussed. This article highlights the policy implications, in terms of appropriate development programmes, of this approach.     

Discourses of privatisation: the case of South Africa's water sector

The neoliberal offensive incipient during the 1970s matured into a globally hegemonic discourse during the 1990s. Developing countries like South Africa have their own peculiar brand of neoliberalism. This has taken various forms in South Africa, one of which is privatisation. Its discursive origins may be traced to key thinkers and institutions. And while there is a general discourse of privatisation there also exist sub-discourses in particular sectors, such as the water services sector. This paper examines the way a general discourse of privatisation evolved in South Africa and how this discourse has filtered into water services delivery. It argues that key role players and institutions acted as disseminators of a discourse of privatisation in the water services sector.     

Biofuels and the policy implications for China

The paper explores China's biofuel policy and compares biofuel development in China and the rest of the world. It is argued that biofuel development depends on financial support, price intervention, and trade barriers, which all call for government support. China's biofuel industry is developing fast but under strict control. China should refer to other countries' experiences and make policy decisions according to national strategies and local conditions.     

South Africa's ten years of democracy: development and media discourse

Newspapers play an important role in selecting, defining and communicating pertinent social issues, especially during changing times. Yet, in the case of the transition to a new dispensation in South Africa, it seems that there has been very little sustained analysis of the news media in terms of its approach to social change before 1994. Hence the apparent lack of vigorous public engagement about the interplay between contending relations of power and the way that conflictive relations are being dealt with in terms of either maintaining or changing the status quo. For example, even in instances where popular discourses were in favour of changing the apartheid order to a more humane society, it would appear that social change was discussed in a way that meant that any alternative understanding was based on an a priori set of assumptions about what would be a suitable socio-economic order for South Africa. Hence the contradiction between election promises of a ‘better life for all’ and the current increasing levels of poverty in South Africa.     

The new South African Constitution and its implications for development

The new constitutional dispensation will stimulate development activities for the Coloureds and Indians through community development and basic needs programmes which are mainly categorised as “own affairs”.

Local governmental institutions will become important additional instruments in this respect. The development backlog of Coloureds and Indians and its implications is sketched and the expectation is expressed that the dynamics of the new situation will lead to greater public expenditure for these needs. However, political demands for the realisation of development goals could outpace societal progress in terms of community development approaches, while the demographic distribution of Coloureds an Indians militates somewhat against their optimal drawing of benefit from decentralisation policies.     

广东产业集群竞争力的实证分析与相应政策体系

对集群竞争力的研究是一个新领域,现有的研究基本上是解析集群的竞争优势来源,从规范角度曾分析过集群竞争力,而对集群竞争力进行模型构建的实证分析尚属空白,这主要是因为产业集群作为一种新兴的群体性经济体,其规模、结构变动性较大,缺乏明确的集群地理界限,难以形成系统的统计数据.对广东产业集群的实证分析只是一种尝试.