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.     

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.     

The case for social security in South Africa: An economic perspective

Sound economic arguments exist for social security in a market system, since it can promote efficiency and equity. Furthermore, social security can reduce the risks of economic insecurities caused by unemployment, poverty and the new international economic environment to individuals and society. For a developing country, South Africa has a relatively well-developed social security system. However, it cannot address all the needs without major fiscal adjustments. The most viable approach may be to target only the most vulnerable groups, although such an approach may be criticised from an equity perspective. An important limitation of the South African social security system is that many unemployed individuals go without coverage, which may contribute towards instability. It may be necessary to revisit public works programmes in conjunction with the private sector.     

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.     

Recent fertility patterns and population policy in South Africa

This study presents estimated levels of age-specific fertility (ASF) and P/F ratios in South Africa, by selected characteristics for the African population. Data were obtained from the nationwide 1993 Living Standards Survey and adjusted to reflect ASF. The national total fertility rate (TFR) was 3.7 children/woman, or significantly higher than the 2.9 estimated by the 1994 October Household Survey. Fertility was highest in Northern Province (4.5). Three other provinces had over 4.0 TFR: Free State, Eastern Cape, and North-West. The lowest fertility was in Western Cape (2.3) followed by Gauteng (2.9). Whites had the lowest rates; Africans had the highest rates. Fertility declined for Africans and Indians. Fertility was associated with residence, age, and work status, and did not differ by residence for Africans. Differences between African and White fertility were in the timing of the start, peak, and termination of childbearing. Peak childbearing was 20-24 years for Africans and older ages for Whites and others. Adolescent childbearing among Africans was high in 4 regions and 2 provinces. Fertility declined among women aged over 30 years and rose among younger women. Fertility decline in any age group was not apparent in Venda and Bophuthatswana. Nonmarital fertility rose for all but the oldest childbearing ages. Fertility did not decline among well educated women aged under 40 years. Over 50% of African women in peak childbearing ages had never been married and had at least 1 baby. Fertility decline has slowed due to nonmarital childbearing and increased childbearing in the peak ages.     

Social security for young people amidst high poverty and unemployment: Some policy options for South Africa

South African youth experience extremely high levels of unemployment and poverty. Currently there is no social assistance for low-income young adults in South Africa unless they are disabled. Interventions are needed that can achieve widespread poverty alleviation, as well as help facilitate economic participation to improve lifelong earnings. In this article, six examples of social security policy options are considered, including five grants ranging from an unconditional non-means-tested grant for young people to a conditional grant for young people in training or education, plus an ‘Opportunities voucher’ that is administered through the social security system but paid out to organisations offering youth education or work opportunities. Using a tax and benefit microsimulation model to simulate the five grants, we estimate the potential numbers reached and cost, as well as the impact of these six options on poverty.     

Gender and child sensitive social protection in South Africa

Drawing from a 2010 study of women receiving the Child Support Grant in an urban area of South Africa, this article discusses the link between social protection, women's empowerment and the well-being of children. It appears that the Grant enhances women's power and control over household decision-making in financial matters, general household spending and child well-being. At the same time, the data show that women continue to bear the greatest burden of care in the household and that these responsibilities significantly heighten gender inequalities. Therefore, while the Grant has benefits for child well-being and women's empowerment, it cannot on its own transform unequal and unjust social relations of power. It should be working in concert with other public programmes not only to focus on children's needs but also to strive for gender equality for poor women.     

Infant industry characteristics and decentralisation policy in South Africa∗

The policy of decentralisation of industry in South Africa is effected through a system of incentives and subsidies designed towards shifting resources from the urban areas to the rural areas. This paper examines this policy in the light of the infant industry argument for protection and its economic efficacy. In particular, the analysis is applied to a comparison of manufacturing industry in the Black States and in the rest of South Africa. Furthermore, the relationship between estimated differential subsidy rates granted to a sample of decentralised firms is examined in terms of their differential infant industry characteristics and capital intensity.     

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.     

A theoretical perspective on population policy in South Africa

The author describes the goals of South Africa's Population Development Programme, which works to enact the government's population policy. The primary objective is to achieve a balance between population size and natural and socioeconomic resources in the country. "The Population Development Programme promotes specific fertility-inhibiting programmes, projects and actions in the socio-economic fields of education, manpower training, health, the economy and housing. Population information, education and communication programmes are also directed at people with high fertility to facilitate the change of fertility perceptions in favour of a small family norm."     

How better targeting of social spending affects social delivery in South Africa

Social spending has become a major tool of targeting resources to South Africa's poor. The poor now get considerably more than their population share of social spending, but the underlying distribution of income is so skewed that overall post-fiscal inequality has not improved much. Concentration ratios and curves show considerable shifts in social spending incidence in the period 1995 to 2006. However, the efficiency of that spending is low, resulting in limited social outcomes and consequently also limited gains to the poor from better targeting. This paper therefore calls for the South African policy discussion to shift to why the ever-increasing fiscal inputs and improved targeting of those inputs have not produced the desired social outcomes.     

South African social security under apartheid and beyond 1

Under apartheid, the trappings of a welfare state for whites were created. Over time, social security was gradually extended to other groups, and recently social assistance benefits were equalised. This left South Africa with high social security levels for a middle‐income developing country. However, the social security system still largely reflects the historical needs of vulnerable white groups under apartheid, among whom unemployment was minimal, given their preferential access to jobs and education. Thus the social security system now has inadequate provision for the most vulnerable, the unemployed. In contrast, four out of five pensioners receive a means‐tested social pension — a major poverty‐alleviating factor in rural black communities. This article analyses the social security system against the backdrop of apartheid and the more recent democratisation, and assesses its major deficiencies, the forces acting for its expansion and the binding fiscal constraint.     

The influence of policy on the roles of agriculture in South Africa

This article provides a framework for the analysis of the relationship between different macroeconomic, sector and commodity policies and the multiplier effects of agriculture. It starts with a listing of the macroeconomic, sector and commodity policies that have been included in the analysis. These should be considered in conjunction with the likely roles of agriculture along each of the dimensions of the social, poverty and cultural roles of agriculture. These policies and roles should be conceptualised as the vertical and horizontal axes respectively of a ‘policy role’ matrix. The ‘cells’ of this matrix – the policy role interactions – are discussed with respect to the immediate macroeconomic, agricultural, economic, institutional and social impact of the policy change on the agricultural sector at farm, regional, national and multinational levels, and thereafter on the role of agriculture in terms of each of the dimensions identified above.     

Pro-poor growth and social protection in South Africa: Exploring the interactions

This study evaluates the impact of South Africa's long-term economic growth on household poverty and inequality between 1995 and 2005. We find a decline in aggregate levels of poverty, but increasing levels of inequality. The evidence suggests that the growth model provides substantial redistributive income support to the poor through the social grant programme, whilst offering few returns to those in the middle of the distribution.     

Trade policy,productivity and learning: Evidence in South Africa

The theoretical argument in support of trade liberalisation is based, in part, on exports that foster dynamic efficiency gains primarily through learning and technological upgrading. Using data collected in the motor vehicle components industry, the article explores whether there is any evidence in the South African manufacturing sector to support this hypothesis. Although the conclusions are tentative, the author finds no unambiguous empirical support for the argument that, in the South African context, trade liberalisation fosters learning and innovation at the level of the firm.     

Promoting alignment between innovation policy and inclusive development in South Africa

Innovation for inclusive development (IID) is widely promoted as a policy objective in the global South, but the challenge is that there is little design and implementation of context-appropriate instruments and incentives. One critical foundation is network alignment – that innovation policy should be aligned with the goals and strategies of government departments responsible for promoting inclusive development (Von Tunzelmann, N, 2007. Approaching network alignment. Draft Paper for the U-Know Consortium: Understanding the relationship between knowledge and competitiveness in the enlarging European Union). The paper contributes by using qualitative analysis software to analyse the nature of shared policy goals and instruments in South Africa, and assess how these can be aligned with each other and with the goals of IID. Three main spaces for policy intervention are identified, to promote IID in a way that goes beyond the aspirational and the rhetorical. Such analysis of formal policy does not take into account the political will, capabilities and resources for implementation, but it does provide a systematic evidence base to effect strategic change.