South African Economy Research Articles

South African Basic Education System: Colonial Legacies in the Curriculum Design and a Way Forward

The South African Basic Education System does little to provide skills, needed to survive outside the schooling system, for those who do not wish to pursue post-secondary school education. The education system produces secondary school graduates who are poised, as content carriers and an un-employable labour force. A research question grappled with in this paper is whether this secondary school curriculum design inherited from the colonial formal education system is beneficial for South African learners? The paper argues that the continuation of the provision of this curriculum is tantamount to contributing very little to the national educational strategic goals of creating a skilled workforce needed to run the South African economy. Additionally, this also contributes to the exacerbation of the unemployment in South Africa. From a decolonial point of view, the paper provides a comprehensive overview of the basic education curriculum from the colonial period until the contemporary period and shows how it has contributed to huge numbers of job-seekers visa-versa employees and subservient of the curriculum design and schooling system. Methodologically, this paper is informed by a qualitative research approach in the form of document review. The research revealed four major important elements in decolonization of the school curriculum namely; history lesson, social justice and self-determination, formulation and execution of the protection of indigenous knowledge systems and promoting the significance of indigenous languages and use.

The Applicability of Design Thinking in the Tourism Sector, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa

One of the most significant corporate trends nowadays is design thinking, which gives firms the ability to develop their strategic thinking capabilities in order to tackle difficult problems. The goals of design thinking are to transform enterprises, encourage imaginative abilities, pinpoint needs and opportunities, and provide fresh ideas and scenarios for the company. South Africa's economy can grow as much as is desired by including all of these aspects. Design thinking is a capability that may deliberately assist the South African tourism industry in attaining its aspirational goals of increasing visitor arrivals, accelerating job development, and unleashing entrepreneurial prospects across sub-sectors that are closely related to the tourism sector. Tourism industry stakeholders must be aware of the evolving consumer demands. Understanding whether design thinking might be applied to the tourism sector in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and whether doing so may be effective and advantageous for this sector, was the study's primary objective. Purposive sampling was used in this study's qualitative research approach. Eleven members of the tourism industry participated in a design thinking workshop, a focus group, and interviews in August and September 2021. The main conclusions showed that design thinking would be an effective technique to support improvements and innovation in the tourism sector, as all participants confirmed and agreed. The study's findings have led to various factors that can help design thinking improve tourism industry business. It is recommended that though design thinking can boost business in the tourism industry, a number of contributing factors must be properly implemented.

Adaptation through Climate-Smart Agriculture: Examining the Socioeconomic Factors Influencing the Willingness to Adopt Climate-Smart Agriculture among Smallholder Maize Farmers in the Limpopo Province, South Africa

Agriculture contributes to the South African economy, but this sector is highly vulnerable to climate change risks. Smallholder maize farmers are specifically susceptible to climate change impacts. The maize crop plays a crucial role in the country’s food security as is considered a staple food and feed. The study aimed at examining the socioeconomic factors influencing smallholder maize farmers’ willingness to adopt climate-smart agriculture in the Limpopo Province, South Africa. It was conducted in three different areas due to their specific agro-ecological zones. A multipurpose research design was used to gather data, and multistage random sampling was used to choose the study areas. Subsequently, 209 purposefully selected farmers were interviewed face-to-face using structured questionnaires and focus discussion groups. Descriptive results revealed that 81%, 67%, and 63% farmers in Ga-Makanye, Gabaza, and Giyani were willing to adopt CSA. Using the double-hurdle model, the t-test was significant at 1%, Prob > chi2 = 0. 0000, indicating a good model. At a 5% confidence level, education, crop diversification, and information about climate-smart agriculture (CSA) positively influenced adoption, while household size and agricultural experience negatively influenced it. It is recommended that the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform, and Rural Development provide CSA workshops and educational programs to farmers to enhance their knowledge and decision-making processes regarding adaptation strategies.

Symmetric Impact of Carbon Emissions on Poverty in South Africa: New Evidence from ARDL Bounds Test

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between poverty and carbon emissions in South Africa covering the period between 1994 and 2020. The study employed the ARDL bounds test to assess the existence of a long run relationship between the variables. The results evidenced existence of a long run relationship between poverty, carbon emissions, economic growth and renewable energy consumption in South Africa. The results are such that carbon emissions have a positive and a significant effect on poverty in the long run. Therefore, with CO2 emissions having a positive influence on poverty, causes more losses in the socioeconomic system and reduces the ability of the population to cope with poverty. Therefore, it is recommended that the government should promote the growth of the South African carbon market, increase enterprise involvement through acceptable price and quota allocation, and work in tandem with other environmental measures to promote sustainable development. This will help alleviate poverty in South Africa.

CONTEXTUALISING ENTREPRENEURSHIP AS A PANACEA TO YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA

Youth unemployment has bewildered governments across the globe, both in developed and emerging economies countries, with South Africa being no exception. This is captured through the accelerating youth unemployment rate in the country. Considering the positive contributions of excessive youth entrepreneurship policies in other countries, this paper, through the lenses of Schumpeter’s 1934 economic development theory, demonstrates that through entrepreneurship, the South African government should strive to accelerate the already implemented and discard the less effective youth policies. Consequently, creating an innovative environment centered around the youth eradicates the exacerbating percentage of inactive or discouraged youth due to unemployment. Longer spells of inactivity threaten their human development and their contribution to the South African economy. Therefore, a youth-driven entrepreneurship economy can assist the government in counter-solving upcoming and persistent negative effects of unemployed youth. Keeping the youth productive, and innovative, creating jobs and incomes.

Central Bank Independence, Inflation and Money Growth: Evidence from South Africa

Purpose: This article evaluates the impact of the de jure independence of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) on the credibility and discipline of domestic monetary policy. Credibility captures the extent to which economic agents trust the SARB to pursue its price stability mandate and is measured by the relationship between the SARB’s independence and domestic inflation. Discipline relates to the effect of independence on money growth rates, while independence is associated with a more disciplined central bank and moderate money growth rates. Methodology: A simple autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) econometric specification and Granger causality tests are employed. Following the extant empirical literature, existing indexes of central bank independence (CBI) are regressed on annual rates of inflation and M2 money growth. Findings: A statistically significant negative relationship is established between both i) CBI and inflation and ii) CBI and money growth for the South African economy. This suggests that the SARB’s legal independence plays an important role in containing inflation (credibility) and limiting excessive money growth (discipline). Contribution: This article fills a gap in the extant literature by being the first attempt at formalising the empirical link between de jure CBI, inflation, and the rate of money growth in the South African economy.

The effect of digital transformation on the productivity of business enterprises in South Africa

As digital technologies continue to shape the economy, countries are faced with increasing scrutiny in the use of digital transformation to aid productivity and improve performance. In South Africa, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated Small and medium-sized businesses’ (SMEs’) uptake of digital technologies, as many businesses had to shift their operations online and adopt new digital tools and technologies to solve the challenges posed by the pandemic. This has led to an increased focus on digital transformation mechanisms among South African firms. Therefore, the study examines the effect of digital transformation on the productivity of firms using cross-sectional data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES) (2020). The survey was based on firms and is a representative sample of the private sector in the South African economy and covers a wide variety of business environment themes, such as infrastructure, competitiveness, access to finance, and performance indicators. We found that digital transformation improved productivity of South African firms. Furthermore, empirical findings are reassuring robust to the IV-2SLS and quantile regression model, size of business, sectoral and provincial analysis. Finally, we recommend that policy makers should develop and implement initiatives to improve digital infrastructure, including high-speed internet access and reliable connectivity, especially in rural and underserved areas.

Exploring Perceptions of Advantage and Attitudes Towards Redistribution in South Africa

Tackling inequalities and poverty in South Africa has proven extremely difficult and contentious. Indeed, redistribution policies are often widely criticized both by people who argue that these policies are not far‐reaching and comprehensive enough and by those who argue they are not justified, too large‐scale and/or ineffective, and should be scaled back. While public support amongst relatively advantaged South Africans is crucial for these redistribution policies to be enacted and maintained, interestingly, we know very little about how respective groups of “advantaged” South Africans from different ethnic groups view wealth transfers and other redistribution measures aimed at reducing the prevailing inequalities in South Africa. Drawing on a series of focus group discussions, we gain insights into perceptions of advantage and attitudes towards redistribution amongst groups of black and white “advantaged” South Africans respectively. We find that both black and white “advantaged” South Africans are reluctant to part with some of their wealth in the interests of greater economic equality, citing state corruption and extended network obligations as justification. In addition, there is a shared tendency to understate their economic advantage by identifying firmly as the middle class, thereby abrogating responsibility to the super‐wealthy whilst simultaneously expressing paternalistic views towards the poor.

Will Employees and Technology Continue to Coexist Despite Historic Tensions?

In developed economies, the integration of technology into the labour force has largely led to massive job losses, and workers have met this with stiff resistance. This has changed the dynamics of industrial relations in this era of digital age. The purpose of this study was to investigate the ways in which digitalisation has been affecting human labour in workplaces in South Africa and what can be done to enable employees–technology coexistence. In the study, I used qualitative data-collection methods—interviews, observation and document collection. I used purposive and convenience sampling to select the participants. Analysis of the collected data yielded six major findings. The major tenets of these findings were that digitalisation leads to job losses in South Africa and that the country was not sufficiently preparing students and workers for human–machine collaboration. Although the study was intended to focus on various sectors of the South African economy, I was more biased towards the local banking sector. This could be viewed as a limitation of this study. The study made practical and methodological contributions. It also made an essential contribution to digital transformation theory and employee relations body of knowledge. A major recommendation is that policymakers should mitigate against technology shocks and uneven geographical phenomenon by connecting major commercial hubs with major labour market hubs. Future studies should focus on the impact of technology on employees in each economic sector in South Africa.

FOOD IMPORT, FOOD PRICE INFLATION, WAGES AND AGRICULTURAL EMPLOYMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA

Agricultural industry plays a significant role in the South African economy, specifically in creating jobs. However, this sector is facing significant challenges owing to economic and social unrest. Within the application of both Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) and Error Correction Model (ECM) on time series data from 2010q1 to 2021q4; this paper assessed the effects of food imports, inflation, and real wage on agricultural employment in South Africa. The results from bounds testing indicated that food imports, inflation and real wage stimulate longterm disruptions in agricultural employment. However, short-run results indicated that agricultural employment is only affected by the real wage. Based on these findings, this study suggests a policy that incorporation of both inflation rate and real wages policy to improve employment in the agricultural industry. Additionally, easing the import of food products that are complements to domestic agricultural products should be another strategy to increase the number of people employed in the agricultural industry.

Agri-silviculture community growers in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa

Agriculture and forestry play a crucial role in the South African economy, contributing to poverty alleviation and economic growth. Combining the two, agroforestry is a land-use system that integrates agricultural crops with woody perennials to achieve beneficial ecological and economical interactions for food, fiber, and livestock production. A study conducted in the South African provinces of Limpopo and Mpumalanga demonstrated the positive impact of agroforestry on food security and community livelihoods by integrating crop production (groundnuts) into forestry plantations (eucalyptus trees), as a type of agri-silviculture. Referred to as the ´intervention´, this agroforestry initiative monitored the food security status of community growers. Before the intervention, all the community growers were moderately food insecure, facing insufficient and monotonous diets. After the intervention, food accessibility increased significantly, as 88% of the community growers indicated that they now had access to food from their land, and 62% no longer went hungry, children included. The agri-silviculture community growers were additionally able to sell their groundnuts at formal and informal markets, increasing their income and improving their livelihoods. The environmental and socioeconomic success of this study was made possible, and continues to be improved upon, thanks to the ongoing collaboration between the Agricultural Research Council and Mountain to Ocean. Public-private partnerships such as these must be prioritised, as they are instrumental in promoting, financing and developing agroforestry initiatives. Agroforestry proved to be a viable solution to enhance food security, generate income, and improve livelihoods in South Africa, but high transportation costs and the lack of transportation infrastructure need to be addressed to provide community growers easier access to their agroforestry sites. It is recommended that agroforestry be intensified across South Africa to help achieve Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, particularly zero hunger.

Indigenous Games as a Catalyst for Sport Tourism Development in South Africa

This preliminary study seeks to investigate the role of indigenous games as catalysts for sport tourism development in South Africa. By employing a mixed-methods approach, qualitative data will be gathered through in-depth interviews with key informants, including government officials responsible for cultural affairs, organizers of indigenous games, and various stakeholder groups. Quantitative data on its part will be sourced from residents in host communities and from event participants and spectators. By examining multi-stakeholder perspectives on the phenomenon, the research aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of how indigenous games can be utilised as tools for sport tourism development in South Africa. The anticipated outcomes of the study include insights into the ways indigenous games can enhance South Africa's appeal as a sport tourism destination. Understanding key stakeholders’ perspectives regarding indigenous games could reveal the potential areas of leveraging indigenous games for sport tourism. The implications of this research could be far-reaching, offering guidance to policymakers, tourism boards, and cultural organisations involved in their hosting. By recognizing the value of indigenous games in the broader context of sport tourism, stakeholders could develop strategies to promote sustainable tourism practices, preserve cultural heritage, and foster inclusive economic growth. This study's outcomes should contribute to the ongoing discourse on the intersection of culture, sports, and tourism, emphasising the importance of indigenous games as a unique and underexplored asset in South Africa's sport tourism landscape. Ultimately, the findings could inform initiatives that capitalise on the synergies between cultural heritage and tourism for the benefit of both local communities and the broader South African economy.

Macroeconomic determinants of poverty in South Africa: the role of investments in artificial intelligence

Macroeconomic determinants of poverty in South Africa: the role of investments in artificial intelligence

Housing prices in South African economy: Investigating macroeconomic drivers using time-varying approach

Despite being one of the least liquid assets, housing is unarguably the most significant asset class and the biggest contributor to household wealth. The goal of the current empirical research is to examine the macroeconomic drivers of housing prices. Thus, the study examines the impact of macroeconomic variables and oil prices on housing prices using monthly time series data from 2003(M1) to 2023(M3). Generalized Autoregressive Score Model (GAS) is employed to appraise the time-varying relationships between housing prices and macroeconomic variables, as well as housing prices and oil prices. The findings resulting from the empirical analysis indicate that the housing market in South Africa is substantially influenced by macroeconomic factors and oil prices. Therefore, the South African government and policy makers must maintain strong macroeconomic policy formulation and environment as they have an impact on housing prices, which, in turn, have an impact on the welfare and quality of life of the populace.

Is external debt an impediment to the South African economy?

Is external debt an impediment to the South African economy?

Religion and poverty alleviation in South Africa

South Africa, like all nations, faces several societal ills. In recent years, poverty has seen an increase in its prevalence rates – gaining attention from local, national, and international institutions. Poverty as a global phenomenon has existed for centuries and is predicted to continue for the foreseeable future. Amid this gloomy prediction, religion offers a beacon of hope. Religious communities provide a sense of comfort, security, and hope for a better future. However, they are also institutions capable of great social change and influence. Considering South Africa’s diverse and large religious community, the question of how religious communities can support poverty alleviation efforts and curb the growth of poverty becomes important, necessary, and relevant to the existing discourse on multilateral collaboration towards poverty alleviation.Contribution: This article contributes to understanding different religious views on poverty towards understanding the importance of the religious community and interfaith dialogue and collaboration in addressing the growth of poverty in South Africa.

The Non-Agricultural Labour Productivity Effects of Working Time: South Africa’s Case

The purpose of the current study is to assess the impact of working time on non-agricultural labour productivity in the South African economy. To achieve this objective, the study utilised the Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model (ARDL) and correlation analysis to analyse the effects of different working time arrangements on labour productivity. The results of the study indicated that weekly working hours have a significant influence on worker productivity. Working between 30 and 39 hours per week was found to greatly enhance productivity both in the short and long term. Additionally, working between 15 and 29 hours per week showed a slight positive effect on productivity. Conversely, working more than 39 hours per week (between 40 and 45 hours) only increased productivity in the short term, while working less than 29 hours and exceeding 45 hours per week had a negative impact on labour productivity. These findings suggest that an optimal working schedule to maximise labour productivity is between 30 and 40 hours per week, with overtime not exceeding 5 hours per week. Establishing a proper schedule of weekly working hours is crucial for maximising labour productivity and reducing work-related stress, which can impede productivity.

ASSESSMENT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN SOUTH AFRICA:

The conventional understanding is that the coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19) has challenged the development of the economies at all levels – global, regional and domestic. The need to assess its damage to the South African economy became imperative if the economy has to be resuscitated in an informed and targeted way. The study therefore aimed at assessing the impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic in South Africa, assessing the effectiveness of the South African government response to Covid-19 and outlining government strategies that have been employed in an effort to rebuild the South African economy. The study utilised the qualitative research approach in which semi-structured interviews were used to collect information on a purposive sample of 12 participants. Through the use of thematic analysis as the data analysis method, the study discovered that the Covid-19 pandemic has both long-term and short-term impacts on the South African economy such as loss of employment, contracting GDP, depressed growth below pre-pandemic projections and lack of organisational performance. In response to Covid-19, the government introduced supporting programmes to businesses, regulations aimed at allowing credit facilities and partnership with various stakeholders. Strategies such as expansionary monetary strategies and the introduction of specific programmes targeting the resuscitation of key economic sectors have been implemented to rebuild the economy. The study, therefore, recommends that the government needs to build a buffer of resources in preparation of devastating pandemics such as Civid-19, such that when the country is hit by the pandemic, there are avenues that can be explored to resuscitate the economy. There is also need to ensure that there is a platform where business organisations can flourish as they can access capital and resources.

A dynamic, stochastic, Bayesian, provincial input–output model for the South African economy

A dynamic, stochastic, Bayesian, provincial input–output model for the South African economy

An indigenized framework for game design curriculum for African Universities

The aim of this paper is to reposition game design studies curriculum in Africa by modelling the African Ubuntu philosophy. This study utilized an inductive content analysis via transformative paradigm to identify relevant tenants that contribute to this conceptual paper. Furthermore, thematic approach was utilized to organize the are identified points int categories and subcategories. The utilization and introduction of the African ubuntu philosophy to game design curriculum follows 9 vital stages will be actualized. Researchers are motivated to conduct empirical and qualitative experiments on the African ubuntu philosophy for indigenized game curriculum. Utilizing indigenization as the game design curriculum will increase enrolment, programs easily accessible and help African content become global, as well as help African economies to grow. An indigenized policy will help many local talents and grow the south African economy.