Labour In Africa Research Articles

Uitdagings en implikasies vir die implementering van selfgerigte leer tydens Covid-19 Challenges and implications for the implementation of self-directed learning during Covid-19

Uitdagings en implikasies vir die implementering van selfgerigte leer tydens Covid-19 Challenges and implications for the implementation of self-directed learning during Covid-19

Is the system of rice intensification (SRI) pro poor? Labour, class and technological change in West Africa

CONTEXTIncreasing numbers of young people enter Sub-Saharan Africa's labour markets each year while industrial jobs only grow slowly. As 62% of Sub-Saharan Africans work in agriculture and as the rural population will continue to rise, agriculture will need to provide additional income- earning opportunities. In this context agricultural technologies should be promoted that can increase food production to answer rising demand and generate decent income-earning opportunities. The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is widely promoted in West Africa and could address these needs – but recent findings from Asia present negative social impacts on workers. OBJECTIVEThis paper explores the mechanisms that shape adoption patterns and impacts of SRI in different (West African) contexts through a labour lens. METHODSOur innovative theoretical framework integrates analytical and empirical categories from Farming Systems research and agrarian political economy. The mixed methods approach combines: (1) quantitative analysis of existing survey data from 857 agricultural households in Ghana, Benin and Mali; and (2) qualitative analysis of an in-depth case study in the Oti Region of Ghana. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSRI increases yield and profitability in West African rice farming, especially when locally adapted. Farmers adjust SRI to fit lowland rice farming, where water cannot be controlled and to address labour constraints. Additional labour for transplanting (instead of broadcasting) – coinciding with an existing labour bottleneck – constrains SRI adoption. SRI is mainly practised by marginal and accumulating farmers and to a lesser extent by medium farmers. Accumulating farmers invest in agriculture, farm profit-oriented and overcome labour constraints by hiring. Thus, they can practise SRI on larger scale and their absolute benefits are higher. Nevertheless, they rely on hired labour to do so, which strengthens workers' bargaining position. Consequently, SRI benefits all: accumulating farmers who employ as well as marginal farmers and hired labourers. Contrary to findings from Asia, SRI seems to be relatively pro-poor in West Africa. SIGNIFICANCEWhile seasonal labour use remains a key constraint to technology adoption, labour intensive technologies can also contribute to increasing income-earning opportunities. The social outcomes of technological change will be shaped by both the existing agricultural practices and the social relations in which a new technology is adopted. Our theoretical framework can inform further research and the application of existing evidence to new contexts.

HISTORY AS A SYSTEM OF WRONGS — EXAMINING SOUTH AFRICA'S MARIKANA TRAGEDY IN A TEMPORAL LEGAL CONTEXT

On 16 August 2012, striking miners in Marikana, South Africa were fired upon by the South African Police Service, resulting in the death of 44 mineworkers. For many the incident has signalled a turning point for the country. This paper suggests that rather than a turning point, the tragedy at Marikana is perhaps only the newest instalment in a centurylong cycle of industrial action and government violence in South Africa's labour history. Marikana is thus not a turning point, but rather a restatement of the ineffectiveness of law. The article then attempts a theoretical analysis of these events, as well as the matter of whether Marikana is a true event that brings about political and social change. Although many consider Marikana a "founding myth" for a popular uprising in South Africa, the article cautiously suggests that it is in fact just "business as usual".

South Africa's Labor Force Amid Technological Change

South Africa's Labor Force Amid Technological Change

Breaking Down the Binary: Layers of Vulnerability among Internally and Internationally Mobile Workers in the Context of Southern Africa

AbstractThe end of apartheid in 1994 heralded a new era in South Africa's migrant labour recruitment system. The new democratic government spearheaded reforms to improve labour relations and recruitment practices in the agriculture sector. Using a layered vulnerability analysis framework, this article describes how the recruitment of migrants for agricultural work has shifted since the end of apartheid. Findings from an ethnographic study of undocumented Zimbabwean migrants in the Limpopo province show that the post‐apartheid reforms have not effectively tackled the vulnerabilities which undocumented agricultural workers face. The lack of a coordinated recruitment system motivates farmers to employ strategies which expose migrants to various layers of vulnerability. A win‐win outcome could be achieved by implementing a recruitment programme that does not impose stringent requirements on migrant agricultural workers. Pursuing this approach would reduce the vulnerabilities that the migrants face, enhance adherence to legislation and promote efficiency in agricultural productivity.

Die Impak en Grondwetlikheid van die Reg om te Staak met Betrekking tot Noodsaaklike Dienste – 'n Vergelykende Studie

This article critically considers the application of and necessity for the right to strike, especially regarding employees that are employed in an essential service. The South African position is examined and compared to other countries around the world, but the focus is mainly on the United Kingdom.
 The article shows that South Africa's current labour legislation (especially regarding essential services) is in theory good, but that it is applied and enforced poorly in spite of the provisions contained in the Labour Relations Act and the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996. This became evident in the 2007 public workers' strike in which many essential services employees took part.
 The United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India, France and Kenya all have different ways of dealing with strikes and essential services. Some of these countries' approaches are similar to South Africa's, but in each there is some difference that could be useful in the South African situation. Through these comparisons it becomes clear that the right to strike is important in many countries around the world, but that each country's essential services (or services that can be classified as essential) are equally important. Every country places at the very least some limitation on the right of essential services employees to strike.In conclusion this article states that the South African Labour Law is not perfect and can be improved by means of comparison. This improvement is of vital importance to the lives, health and personal safety of every individual in the country.

Interpretive Structural Modelling in Action – A Preliminary Exploration of AIDS Pandemic in South Africa

Approximately 12% of South Africans are living with HIV/AIDS. This disease impacts on South Africa's labour force, plagues its economy, and threatens its growth. After the implementation of many AIDS prevention projects, South Africa's HIV prevalence still remains high. This study presents a preliminary exploration of the drivers leading to the AIDS pandemic in South Africa. Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) is used as a mechanism for revealing the drivers leading to AIDS pandemic in South Africa. The modelling process embodies the following steps: ‘generating ideas resulting in AIDS’, ‘clarifying the generated ideas’, ‘using Interpretive Structural Modelling software to construct a diagraph displaying the interrelationships of the generated ideas’ and ‘interpreting the produced model’. The produced model reveals that two major factors lead to the AIDS pandemic in South Africa. They are ‘poverty’ and ‘lack of knowledge of AIDS’. The two factors exacerbate other problems, such as ‘gender inequality’, ‘stigma and discrimination’ and ‘unprotected sex with partner’. Tackling the two drivers ought to be given priority. However, addressing the problem of ‘poverty’ requires cross-functional collaboration.

How Significant Is Sub‐Saharan Africa's Demographic Dividend for Its Future Growth and Poverty Reduction?

AbstractSub‐Saharan Africa will be undergoing substantial demographic changes over the next 15 years with the rising working‐age share of its population. The opportunity of African countries to convert these changes into demographic dividends for growth and poverty reduction will depend on several factors. The outlook will likely be good if African countries can continue the gains already made under better institutions and policies, particularly those affecting the productivity of labor, such as educational outcomes. If African countries can continue to build on the hard‐won development gains, the demographic dividend could account for 11–15% of gross domestic product (GDP) volume growth by 2030, while accounting for 40–60 million fewer poor in 2030. The gains can become more substantial with better educational outcomes that allow African countries to catch up to other developing countries. If the skill share of Africa's labor supply doubles because of improvements in educational attainment, from 25 to about 50% between 2011 and 2030, then the demographic dividends can expand the regional economy additionally by 22% by 2030 relative to the base case and reduce poverty by an additional 51 million people.

Youth Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges, Constraints and Opportunities

African demographics, economic structure, politics and globalisation trends combine into a perfect storm for Africa's policy makers. The large cohort of youth entering Africa's labour force is the best educated one the continent has seen, and Africa is witnessing its best growth performance in decades; yet jobs remain elusive in the formal wage sector. This is largely because African economies have hitherto failed to transform structurally from low productivity agriculture to higher productivity non-agricultural sectors and this, taken together with the high fertility and low infant mortality, has resulted in the structure of employment not changing much. Although many refer to the youth employment problem as the ‘youth unemployment problem’ in actual fact, (measured) unemployment in low-income sub-Saharan Africa (3%) and even in middle-income countries outside of Southern Africa, unemployment is not high as it is considered a ‘luxury’. In the absence of formal wage jobs, youth have found innovative ways to express and exploit their talents and capabilities in the agriculture and household enterprises (informal sector). Given the large numbers of youth entering the labour market each year, and the weak structural transformation of most African economies, the informal sector will remain a major employer of youth, particularly the less skilled and less educated, for decades to come. There is therefore a need for a shift in policy thinking across Africa. It is imperative that policy makers make concerted efforts to raise productivity (and thus earnings) in the informal sector, rather than continue to focus exclusively on the formal wage sector. In this regard, policy makers need to learn from, and work with the youth to enable scalability of certain youth initiatives.

Briefing: The politics of Marikana and South Africa's changing labour relations

MORE THAN A YEAR AFTER the South African police killed 34 strikers in Marikana, labour unrest continues across the country’s mining sector. Industrial actions have targeted platinum giants like Amplats, the world’s largest producer, where an 11-day strike over planned retrenchments has just ended and another is looming amid fresh wage talks. Rivalry between the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) – aligned with the African National Congress (ANC) – and the more recent and militant Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) has also plagued the industry. On 17 October, an NUM branch chairperson at Lonmin – the third largest platinum producer in the world – was shot dead. Another Lonmin NUM shaft steward died in a similar situation on 3 November. A few months ago a former NUM leader who had become the AMCU regional representative in Rustenburg was ambushed – one of several from both sides assassinated since the Marikana massacre. In other words, the ‘Framework Agreement for a Sustainable Mining Industry’, promoted by South African Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe and signed by parties to the industry on 3 July 2013, has so far failed to restore peace to the mining sector in Africa’s largest economy. Beyond the economic uncertainty created by the continued industrial unrest, its political consequences ahead of the next general election should not be underestimated. The NUM is affiliated to the ANC-aligned Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), and was until recently South Africa’s largest trade union, partly thanks to its membership in the platinum sector, where it is now outnumbered by the AMCU. The rapid decline of the dominant trade union and the model of party–labour relations associated with it is unlikely to pose a serious challenge to South

Does Poor Mean Cheap? A Comparative Look at Africa's Industrial Labor Costs

Africa’s industrial progress has been disappointing. With the exception of South African auto components and garments, both of which have benefited from special incentives, Africa exports almost no manufactured goods that are not based on the processing of raw materials. Despite considerable rhetoric on the need to develop manufacturing as well as support by donors, what limited progress has been made has often been uneven and isolated. Much of Africa’s manufacturing sector is still characterized by a significant economic dualism between a large number of small-scale enterprises in the informal sector and a handful of more efficient large-scale operations in the formal sector.Following on from previous research on external costs, this paper compares labor costs and productivity in selected African countries relative to comparatives using data for 25 countries from the World Bank’s Enterprise Surveys. We conclude that industrial labor costs are far higher in Africa than one might expect, given levels of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. Part of this is an “enclave effect”. Both labor costs and labor productivity are far higher in Africa, relative to GDP per capita, than in comparable countries. Another part reflects a steeper labor cost curve. As firms are larger and more productive, their labor costs increase more in Africa than elsewhere. But there is still a sizable residual “Africa effect” after controlling such factors. We cannot test rigorously for the reasons behind these results, but can consider some plausible explanations. We also consider how Africa’s distinctive pattern, in terms of purchasing power parity exchange rates, could affect the results.The paper concludes with some implications for policy. Certainly there is an urgent need to reduce external costs through focused investments (power), as well as a general improvement in the business climate. However, with the exception of a few countries like Ethiopia, it is not clear that Africa’s low-income level automatically translates into a comparative advantage in low-wage basic manufacturing. The paper argues that it is more likely to reside in sectors closely linked with the rich and varied natural resource endowments of the countries, whether supplying or processing industries.

Migration and Emancipation in West Africa's Labour History: The Missing Links

Strategies of emancipation included projects of migration conceived and unfolded by migrants of slave descent. This article suggests that looking at how these migrants chose to move when they could control their mobility, and at the obstacles they faced, reveals aspects of the experience of enslavement and emancipation that have not yet been fully explored in the relevant historiography. While historians of African slavery have described the large-scale movements of ex-slaves that followed legal status abolition in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, only few studies provide detailed analyses of these trajectories from the perspective of the enslaved. Outside the field of slavery studies, both West African labour history and migration studies have been emphasising ethnicity over status, thereby underestimating how slave descent shaped the practices and aspirations of a large proportion of labour migrants. The autobiographic testimonies of migrants of slave descent provide insights into their strategies and expose differences across gender, age and location. Through an analysis of these sources, this article highlights the missing links in our reconstructions of the history of West African workers.

Coping with Intra-Household Job Separation in South Africa's Labor Market

In the context of South Africa's pervasive poverty and mass unemployment, households provide an important private safety net for the unemployed. Using new South African Labour Force Survey panel data, I investigate how households cope with job separations and the resulting loss of earned income. Unsurprisingly, I find no evidence of an added worker effect among either men or women. Neither increases in employment or labor market attachment in the year following a household job separation. Instead, households rely on remittances and, to a lesser extent, savings in the wake of a job separation. I find some evidence that households are worse off after a job separation: households reduce expenditures (even in the absence of household composition changes), hold fewer financial assets and are more likely to report frequent food insecurity. Households have viable income replacement strategies to cope with the loss of earned income in the short run, but over the long run job separations are likely to strain these strategies. Addressing structural factors in the labor market that constrain an individual's response to a household shock will enable households to respond more quickly to adverse employment events and limit the long term negative repercussions.

Tracking Skilled Diasporas

This essay examines the trajectories of skilled labor migrants within a global South-North migration matrix using an interdisciplinary framework. Focusing on Nigeria's huge brain drain phenomenon, the essay draws from the limited available data on the field, interpreting those data through theoretical perspectives from postcolonial studies, Marxism, cultural studies, and human geography. The study spotlights the example of the United States of America as a receptacle of skilled migrants and raises questions of social justice along the North-South divide. The research demonstrates that contrary to the dominant image promoted by some elements in the Western media of migrants as irritants or criminals who disturb well-cultivated, advanced World economies and social spaces, 1 those nations benefit highly from Africa's (and other migrant countries') labor diasporas, especially the highly skilled professionals.

Impact of Labour Law on South Africa’s New Corporate Rescue Mechanism

South Africa's recently enacted Companies Act introduces a new corporate rescue mechanism known as 'business rescue'. One of the aims of corporate rescue is the resuscitation or reorganization of companies in financial distress. The legal disciplines of labour, insolvency, and corporate law interact during business rescue proceedings. In this contribution, the question is posed whether an appropriate balance has been struck between employees' and creditors' interests in this new corporate rescue mechanism. The investigation is conducted against the background of International Labour Organization (ILO) and European Union (EU) standards and South Africa's labour, insolvency, and corporate law frameworks. The conclusion is drawn that the potential success that this rescue mechanism has to offer could be weakened due to provisions that result in the over-protection of employees.

LABOUR INFLUENCE IN THE NEW SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT

South Africa's labour movement has unprecedented access to state power in Pretoria via SA Communist Party ministers and a new ministerial post devoted to economic development held by a labour leader. But this power comes with structural constraints, no matter the courage of leaders. The economic collapse suffered since 2008 is only the latest stage in an unfolding crisis of accumulation which South African capital has only shaken since the 1970s through escaping the country's shores, through financialisation, and through imposition of neoliberal policies on the society. But these have not generated a sustainable growth path, but instead, yet more social tensions. How labour marshals and channels these tensions is the crucial test of the coming period.

Should subsistence agriculture be supported as a strategy to address rural food insecurity?

At first glance South Africa's black farming sector appears to contribute rather minimally to overall agricultural output in South Africa. However, despite the complexity involved in this sector and the often marginal conditions in which agriculture is practised it appears to be important to a large number of black households. Furthermore, the significance they attach to subsistence agriculture as means of supplementing household food supplies seems to heavily outweigh other reasons for engaging in agriculture. Some South African researchers have indicated the contribution subsistence production makes to household food security, despite the prevalent complexities and the low input nature of this production. Statistics South Africa's Labour Force Survey data from 2001 to 2007 and a case study of subsistence farming in Limpopo Province are used to support the argument that, despite the complexity of this sector, the more than 4 million subsistence farmers, need and merit greater support. Such support should be based on the local context, build on and, where appropriate, improve existing local practices, while addressing various existing threats to this type of production. Recommendations are made as to what policy makers need to consider when considering how best to support subsistence production.

Die Impak En Grondwetlikheid Van Die Reg Om Te Staak Met Betrekking Tot Noodsaaklike Dienste – 'n Vergelykende Studie

PER 2009(2) The article shows that South Africa's current labour legislation (especially regarding essential services) is in theory good, but that it is applied and enforced poorly in spite of the provisions contained in the Labour Relations Act and the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996. This article critically considers the application of and necessity for the right to strike, especially regarding employees that are employed in an essential service. The South African position is examined and compared to other countries around the world, but the focus is mainly on the United Kingdom. This became evident in the 2007 public workers' strike in which many essential services employees took part. The United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India, France and Kenya all have different ways of dealing with strikes and essential services. Some of these countries' approaches are similar to South Africa's, but in each there is some difference that could be useful in the South African situation. Through these comparisons it becomes clear that the right to strike is important in many countries around the world, but that each country's essential services (or services that can be classified as essential) are equally important. Every country places at the very least some limitation on the right of essential services employees to strike. In conclusion this article states that the South African Labour Law is not perfect and can be improved by means of comparison. This improvement is of vital importance to the lives, health and personal safety of every individual in the country.

A tale of weak enforcement

This article firstappeared in the South AfricanLabour Bulletin www.salabourbulletin.org.za A tale of weak enforcement ANDRES BEZUIDENHOUT is aresearcher in the Sociology of Work Unit at the University of the Witwatersrand What motivates companies to relocate production across Southern Africanborders? South decentralised and industry Lesotho. African operate firms Andries zones in in former and the Bezuidenhout garment in apartheid Swaziland industry operate informer apartheid decentralised zones andinSwaziland andLesotho. Andries Bezuidenhout investigated labour lawenforcement inthese areas andwhy some South African employers don't escape stringent labour lawsandmove to lessregulated industrial areasacross the border. Inthe early 2000s, partly because of the Africa Growth andOpportunities Act (Agoa), the United States of America, Lesotho andSwaziland saw aninflux ofclothing manufacturers. Another reason for this wasthat the South African rand, towhich Lesotho andSwaziland's currencies aretied, wasfavourable tothe USdollar atthe time. InLesotho 50,000 new jobswere created, and inSwaziland 40,000. Mostly young women work inthese factories, producing merchandise such asjeansand T-shirts for the USmarket. These aremassive orders with lowmargins, but high profits because of the sizeof the orders. But the end of Agoa put these factories under pressure. Also, the rand nearly doubling in value tothe dollar since the early 2000scame asa shock toexporters. Lesotho andSwaziland lost around 20,000 jobseachas manufactures relocated toChina and Vietnam. This empty factory spaceisoften filled by relocated South African operations. Why doSouth African clothing manufacturers move toLesotho andSwaziland? For the past year, Ihave been visiting these two countries with Soeren Jeppesen, a colleague from the Copenhagen Business School, inanattempt to understand this. These areimpressions based onfactory visits andinterviews with managers, trade unions, workers andgovernment officials. The story ismore complex than just South African firms leaving because of'high wages' and'good labour laws', tocountries where labour canbe'exploited'. Before wegoto Lesotho andSwaziland, wehave tomake a detour. Westart inKwaZulu-Natal. Ezakheni, South Africa TheEzakheni industrial park near Ladysmith wassetupinthe1980s toattract manufacturing operations tothe area. Itisa prime example ofapartheid's 'industrial decentralisation' strategy. Firms received subsidies from the state, aswell astailor-made factory spaceatlow rents. Apart from relocations by clothing manufacturers from elsewhere inSouth Africa, Ezakheni attracted a considerable number of Taiwanese companies. For the apartheid state this wasintended tostem the flow of Africans tocities such as Durban andJohannesburg. For employers, itmeant lower wages than urban areas. Intraditional clothing manufacturing hubs, such as Durban andCape Town, the South African Clothing and Textiles Workers' Union, (Sactwu), waswinning recognition agreements tonegotiate better wages. But places like Ezakheni hadanother advantage for employers. Itwasinthe Bantustan of KwaZulu, where South African labour lawdid not apply. Workers were often forced tojoin the weak United Workers' Union ofSouth Africa, which wasaffiliated toInkatha. Soinaddition tolower wages, unions could not operate freely. So,inthe 1980sthere wasa shift ofgarment factories from urban torural areassuch as Ezakheni andPhuthadithjaba inthe Eastern Free State nearby. This trend continued into the 1990s, when industrial council agreements did not yet cover there areas. South Africa's transition todemocracy andnew labour statutes changed the situation. Bargaining council agreements now set minimum wages andconditions for formerly excluded areas, such as Ezakheni. Unions can operate freely andthe council opened anoffice innearby Ladysmith toassist employers and employees, and toinspect minimum conditions setby collective agreements. Could itbethe case,weasked ourselves, that these companies will now relocate toplaces like Lesotho andSwaziland? Inboth these countries, with many Asian firms departing, there aretrained andexperienced workers who arewilling towork for much lower wages than inSouth Africa. Maputsoe, Lesotho There aretwo unions organising inthe garment industry inLesotho, the Lesotho Clothing and Allied Workers' Union and the Factory and Allied Workers' Union. Wages inLesotho areregulated by a collective agreement ataround R700 (€61)a month. Conditions infactories alsomassively improved after GAP, a LosAngeles company that sources most ofitsproducts from Lesotho, implemented a codeofconduct towhich their suppliers have tosubscribe. This coderequires suppliers toenforce the labour laws of the country, aswell asother minimum standards. GAP appointed three fulltime inspectors toinspect factories inLesotho. Most companies feel positive about this code, and that inspectors aresupportive intheir approach, rather than punitive. TheLabour Commissioner alsoreported that shehada good relationship with GAP'S inspectors. TheDepartment ofLabour, however, isclearly under resourced. There areonly eight inspectors tocover the whole country, with not enough vehicles. Officials' low wages make the system vulnerable tobribery. Wealsosawthe extent...

BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this issue.How to Save a Crowded Planet: A Review Essay Review of Jeffrey D. Sachs, Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet.Matthew ConnellyFatal Misconception: The Struggle to Control World Population Review Symposium: Review by John ClelandMatthew ConnellyFatal Misconception: The Struggle to Control World Population Review Symposium: Review by Malcolm PottsMatthew ConnellyFatal Misconception: The Struggle to Control World Population Review Symposium: Review by Dennis HodgsonArland Thornton, William G. Axinn, and Yu XieMarriage and CohabitationIsabella AboderínIntergenerational Support and Old Age in AfricaRobert EngelmanMore: Population, Nature, and What Women Want SHORT REVIEWS by John Bongaarts, Susan Greenhalgh, Geoffrey McNicoll, Adam Weiner Daniela Del Boca and Cécile Wetzels (eds.) Social Policies, Labour Markets and Motherhood: A Comparative Analysis of European CountriesMarito Garcia and Jean Fares (eds.) Youth in Africa's Labor MarketAlan D. Lopez, Colin D. Mathers, Majid Ezzati, Dean T. Jamison, and Christopher J. L. MurrayGlobal Burden of Disease and Risk FactorsJames Raymer and Frans Willekens (eds.) International Migration in Europe: Data, Models and EstimatesLisa Ann RicheyPopulation Politics and Development: From the Policies to the ClinicsUnited NationsWorld Economic and Social Survey 2007: Development in an Ageing WorldWorld Health OrganizationWHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2008: The MPOWER Package