Policy Makers In South Africa Research Articles

Healthcare price changes and expenditures in South Africa: Some implications for economic policy

ABSTRACT Healthcare systems around the world are facing great challenges. This has included rising health care prices and its impact on healthcare expenditures and the concomitant effects on access to healthcare, particularly in emerging and developing countries. This study focuses on health care price developments and health expenditures in South Africa. The study identifies four major results. Firstly, South Africa’s healthcare expenditures compare quite favourably with countries at similar levels of development. However, the efficiency of these expenditures lags those in comparable countries. Secondly, it was found that South Africa’s healthcare price rises have exceeded those in advanced countries even though healthcare demand and expenditures in these countries are much higher than is the case in South Africa. Thirdly, healthcare rises exceeds those in other sectors of the South African economy. Finally, healthcare price changes adversely impact healthcare expenditures in South Africa. These results indicate that price considerations are critical to improving healthcare access in South Africa. The paper also highlights some non-price determinants of healthcare access that warrant attention by policymakers in South Africa.

Opening the floor for discussion: A perspective on how scholars perceive attitudes to science in policymaking in South Africa

CITATION: Czachur, M. V. et al. 2021. Opening the floor for discussion : a perspective on how scholars perceive attitudes to science in policymaking in South Africa. South African Journal of Science, 117(1/2):7948, doi:10.17159/sajs.2021/7948.

Modes of innovation used by SMMEs to tackle social challenges in South Africa

Innovation has become critical for many countries in the Global South, particularly in responding to challenges such as slow economic growth, primary commodity dependence, and socio-economic inequalities. Since 1996, the National System of Innovation (NSI) approach has been adopted by policymakers in South Africa in order to address these concerns. There are two distinct and complementary modes of innovation: (1) Science, Technology and Innovation (STI), which focuses on the promotion and commercialization of research and development (R&D); and (2) Doing, Using and Interacting (DUI), which involves business strategies, knowledge sharing among employees, and interactive learning between users and producers. In this article, we analyze the modes of innovation used by small, medium, and micro-sized enterprises (SMMEs) in South Africa, and identify their potential to use business model innovation to help tackle social challenges. Based on a Latent Class Analysis of online survey data collected from SMMEs in the Gauteng Province, we found that 82% used the DUI mode, 18% used the STI mode, and 72% expressed confidence that their innovative solutions could help tackle social challenges. We therefore recommend that policymakers further incentivize the STI mode within SMMEs, in order to more effectively address social inclusion problems in South Africa.

Approaching climate change mitigation policymaking in South Africa: a view from critical complexity thinking

ABSTRACT From a complexity thinking perspective, the world is understood as complex, systemic, and only partially knowable. The particular perspective we inhabit is determinant of what we can know. Perspective or ‘approach’ is therefore foregrounded by complexity thinkers as an active part of knowing and acting. We take a complexity view of climate change mitigation policymaking to argue that climate change mitigation policy communities have a dominant approach, which determines both our understanding of the climate change mitigation policy problem, and how we respond to it. To construct this argument, we first summarize and describe the existence of a hegemonic scientific and cultural worldview. We use multi-disciplinary literatures to demonstrate how this worldview operates in the approach of the international climate change mitigation policy community. Finally, we draw on empirical datasets to describe how the influence of this worldview characterizes the dominant approach of the South African climate change mitigation policy community. That climate change mitigation policy communities have a dominant approach means that, whilst aspects of the complex policy situation are illuminated by this approach, others are obscured. It is clear from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report on 1.5°C warming that policymakers are not yet responding adequately to the problem. If approach determines what we see and how we act, it follows that approach can be interrogated as an active site of the policy challenge. A complexity view, for instance, enables us to see differently, emphasizing perspective, impartial knowledge, non-linearities and emergence in complexity and complex systems. This in turn has implications for our policymaking. Key policy insights Policymakers should explore how an understanding of approach informs climate change mitigation policymaking. Climate change mitigation policy communities should critically examine the underlying assumptions and worldviews that influence both how we encounter climate change mitigation and how we act upon it. An appreciation of ‘approach’ demands skills not typically valued or taught to climate change mitigation policymakers, with implications for climate change mitigation policy curricula and the composition of policymaking teams Complexity thinking opens up spaces for policymaking currently obscured by the dominant climate change mitigation policy approaches.

Entrepreneurial passion and entrepreneurial intention: the role of social support and entrepreneurial self-efficacy

ABSTRACT This study extended the research on the relationship between entrepreneurial passion and entrepreneurial intention by developing a moderated mediation model. This study investigated whether entrepreneurial self-efficacy mediates this relationship. Also, this study examines whether the social support moderates this mediation model by conducting a moderated mediation analysis. Using a sample of 500 valid responses from university students, this study established that firstly, entrepreneurial passion positively affects entrepreneurial intention and entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Secondly, the indirect effect of entrepreneurial passion on entrepreneurial intention through entrepreneurial self-efficacy was significant and positive. Thirdly, social support had a positive and significant influence on entrepreneurial intention, while the indirect effect of entrepreneurial passion on entrepreneurial intention through entrepreneurial self-efficacy was moderated by social support. The study culminates with practical implications for scholars and policymakers in South Africa.

Causality Between Public Debt, Public Debt Service and Economic Growth in an Emerging Economy

Abstract This paper explores the causality between public debt, public debt service and economic growth in South Africa covering the period 1970 – 2017. The study employs the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach to cointegration and the multivariate Granger-causality test. The empirical results indicate that there is unidirectional causality from economic growth to public debt, but only in the short run. However, the study fails to establish any causality between public debt service and economic growth, both in the short run and long run. In line with the empirical evidence, the study concludes that it is economic growth that drives public debt in South Africa, and that the causal relationship between public debt and economic growth is sensitive to the timeframe considered. The paper recommends policymakers in South Africa to consider growth-enhancing policies in the short run, since poor economic performances may lead to high public debt levels.

A computable general equilibrium model for banking sector risk assessment in South Africa

In this article a banking sector Computable general equilibrium (CGE) model for South Africa is developed. The model is used to estimate the potential effect of regulatory policy on the economy and as a risk assessment tool to assess how changes in regulation affect the economy. The model provides a methodology for regulators of the banking sector and policy makers in South Africa to deal with risk assessment and future regulatory planning. The CGE model allows interactions amongst various entities of the economy so that policy makers could detect the risks in the banking sector. The CGE model used in this paper performed well as a risk assessment tool for the South African banking sector. The results of the various shocks from the model are consistent with the results obtained from similar shocks done in the UK. We establish that default penalty has a higher effect on the banks’ profits and the interest rates than capital requirement infringement penalty. Our results also suggest that interest rate targeting has more controlled effects than monetary base targeting since pecuniary externalities are reduced.

The career development processes of women refugees in South Africa: An exploratory study

Orientation: There is an observed global movement of labour (freely and forcibly). South Africa emerges as a popular receiving ground for refugees. Within the career psychology literature, scant attention is given to understanding the career development concerns, post-settlement, of women refugees in the host country.Research purpose: The study explored the career development processes of women refugees, post-settlement, in South Africa as a host country.Motivation for the study: Calls have been made within local and international literature for studies that give attention to understanding the career development processes of minority groups.Research approach/design and method: Using a narrative inquiry approach, this study explored the career development processes of women refugees using a sample of 20 women refugees in South Africa. Relying on a snowball sampling procedure to recruit the participants, in-depth interviews were utilised as a data collection technique.Main findings: Drawing on participants’ narratives, the findings illustrate how women refugees have been more concerned with fulfilling a short-term desire for survival and acquiring basic commodities at the expense of a longer focus of advancement and career progression. This is mainly compounded by the structural constraints that limit both their career development and their lived experiences. Issues exclusive to the women refugees are also revealed. Overall, the results illustrate how all the aforementioned factors intersect as barriers that hinder women refugees in developing their careers.Practical/managerial implications: The study provides information and strategies that policymakers in South Africa and other developing nations that are hosting refugees can use to facilitate the career development processes of women refugees.Contribution/value-add: This study contributes to the growing body of knowledge focussing on career development of women refuges, a populace that previously received limited focus both locally and internationally.

The stochastic determinants of happiness in South Africa: A micro-economic modelling approach

Orientation: The levels of happiness in South Africa have deteriorated as witnessed by recent increases in public protests. Research purpose: Based on a newly developed conceptual framework, the linear path of influence of a variety of determinants of happiness is challenged in this article. This is done by firstly postulating a potential sequence of influences through which underlying factors have impact on non-proximate factors, which in turn influence the proximate factors, which also affect happiness. Motivation for the study: Given the global interest on well-being, happiness as an indicator of subjective well-being is an important trend to review and reflect on. Based on trends in happiness ratings, South Africans are no longer as satisfied and happy with their lives as they were previously. Given the apparent high level of unhappiness in South Africa, this article aims to identify the various stochastic determinants of happiness within the South African context. Research approach/design and method: The predictability of the conceptual framework was tested by means of categorical regressions. Main findings: The results indicate that a stochastic happiness determination path exists from underlying to non-proximate, to proximate to happiness outcomes and not necessarily the linear path as per the traditional approach of investigation. The results of the study challenge policymakers in South Africa to rethink their current strategies as the current status quo will not necessarily have the desired results. Moreover, higher levels of happiness will only be possible if positive macro-dynamics go hand in hand with positive micro-dynamics. These include high levels of cognitive abilities among the population, the population striving for happiness, planning their personal and financial futures, having access to financial and risk products, and having sustainable income sources. Practical/managerial implications: Through the identification of the identification of the path by which happiness is influenced, programmes and policies designed to improve the subjective well-being of South Africans can be customised to ensure the correct action is taken at the correct level of initiation. Contribution/value-add: One of the contributions of this article is the development of a conceptual framework concerning the path or chain of influences across several layers of variables and not only the direct relationships, as is the norm. Although the relationships between identified determinants and happiness have been researched extensively, limited information is available concerning the path of influence in South Africa. The second contribution is therefore not to identify the direct determinants of happiness in South Africa through the conventional methods, but rather to test the potential path of influence of these factors on one another as well as on happiness based on the developed conceptual framework.

A Computable General Equilibrium Model for Banking Sector Risk Assessment in South Africa

In this article a banking sector Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model for South Africa is developed. The model is used to estimate the potential effect of regulatory policy on the economy and as a risk assessment tool to assess how changes in regulation affect the economy. The model provides a methodology for regulators of the banking sector and policy makers in South Africa to deal with risk assessment and future regulatory planning.The importance of risk assessment in the banking sector, especially systemic risk, cannot be over emphasized as failure to adequately assess the risks in the banking sector usually leads to serious financial crises including the collapse of major financial institutions. The CGE model considers interactions amongst various entities of the economy so could detect the risks in the banking sector. Our results suggest that interest rate targeting has more controlled effects than monetary base targeting since pecuniary externalities are reduced.

Researcher and policymaker dialogue: the Policy BUDDIES Project in Western Cape Province, South Africa

Dialogue and exchange between researchers and policy personnel may increase the use of research evidence in policy. We piloted and evaluated a programme of formalised dialogue between researchers and provincial...

The FDI-Growth Nexus in South Africa: A Re-Examination Using Quantile Regression Approach

Abstract This study sought to contribute to the growing empirical literature by investigating the effects of FDI on per capita GDP growth for South Africa using time series data collected between 1970 and 2016. Compared to the majority of previous studies, we use quantile regressions which investigates the effects of FDI on economic growth at different distributional quantiles. Puzzling enough, the empirical results show that FDI has a negative influence on welfare at extremely low quantiles whereas at other levels this effect turns insignificant. Contrary, the effects of domestic investment on welfare is positive and significant at all levels. Collectively, these results have important implications for policymakers in South Africa.

The missing link: Finding space for gerontology content into university curricula in South Africa

ABSTRACTThe rapid increase in the global elderly population has been widely documented in both demographic and popular literature in recent decades. Population estimates produced by the national statistical service of South Africa in 2017 show that the proportion of elderly (60 years and older) in South Africa is growing fast, reaching 8.1% of the total population in 2017. The country is set to experience a doubling of the population over the age of 65 by the year 2020. Similar to their counterparts in the developed world, tertiary institutions throughout Africa too are faced with the challenge of training professionals capable of understanding and responding to the socioeconomic consequences, social priorities, and complex needs of an increasing aging population. The right set of policies can equip individuals, families, and societies to address the challenges of an aging population. After conducting an extensive literature review, we recommend that policy-makers in South Africa should look into ways that will enable them to meet the many challenges of an aging population in the coming decades. One way to address this issue would be to include gerontology content into the curricula of programs in the humanities and social sciences.

Exploring the relationship between financial inclusion and assets accumulation in South Africa

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the feasibility of asset-building social welfare in South Africa using the FinScope (2014) consumer survey data set. This is achieved using quantile regression technique to examine how financial inclusion influences asset ownership of individuals at the bottom of the assets distribution. Design/methodology/approach This paper test the feasibility of asset-building social policy for poor families in South Africa by examining the relationship between financial inclusion and asset ownership using FinScope 2014 consumer survey for South Africa. Financial inclusion is captured by monthly savings and insurance whereas asset ownership is measured by a composite assets index derived using multiple correspondence analyses from indicators of individual asset possession. Quantile regressions are used to examine how financial inclusion influences asset ownership of individuals at the bottom of the assets distribution. Findings Evidence from mean and quantile regressions showed that the relationship between financial inclusion and asset ownership is positive and statistically significant at 1 per cent level across the entire assets distribution. However, across the distribution, the change in asset ownership varies: higher at the lower tail (10th) quantile, lower at the median (50th) quantile and higher at the upper tail from the 60th quantile. Thus, the poor and low-income families, some of whom may be gaining formal access for the first time, may derive more satisfaction than frequent users such as the working class. Research limitations/implications This evidence provides a good case for progressive asset-building social welfare programmes for the poor and low-income families in South Africa. With 11.9 million children currently receiving child support grants, the puzzle is whether income transfer alone can assist these children to break out of poverty. The results should be interpreted as association as the analysis is based on cross-sectional data. Practical implications The implications of this study are that social welfare in South Africa needs to extend beyond transfer and invest in capacity development of the poor. Asset-building social policy that combines income transfer and asset building such as child development/saving accounts will help to provide a sustainable pathway out of poverty. Social implications Financial inclusion and asset-building social welfare is a crucial issue as it has the potential to improve welfare of the poor. That is, it acts as a complementary strategy to the income transfer approach to poverty alleviation by enabling the poor to find a sustainable pathway out of poverty by building assets. Originality/value Financial inclusion and asset building is a rare area of research particularly in South Africa. This study therefore is timely and its findings will be handy for policy makers in South Africa. Furthermore, the findings will stimulate future research and debates on how financial inclusion and asset-building social welfare can be used to close the gap between the rich and the poor in South Africa.

Public Participation in South Africa’s Policy Decision-Making Process: The Mass and the Elite Choices

Public participation in policy-making dominates most Development, Political Science and Public Administration academic discourses. The issue of concern is the extent to which governments are able to create structures that allow for public participation of citizens in matters affecting their political and developmental concerns. The success of any government administration is, therefore, measured on the basis of how the citizens participate and contribute to the process of deciding their own political and developmental direction. It is argued that the public participation approach that considers the interests, contributions and needs of citizens in policy decision-making processes is difficult in practice. This article investigates the processes of public participation in public policy-making in South Africa with respect to the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act 92 of 1996, the Abolition of Capital Punishment policy and the Civil Union Act 17 of 2006. This is done with a view to determine if public participation in policy decision-making is a reflection of the choices of the elite or the masses.

Does Public Debt Matter For Economic Growth?: Evidence From South Africa

This paper investigates the dynamic relationship between accumulated public debt ratio and real GDP growth in the South African economy over the period 1980-2014. Using two macroeconomic control variables – inflation rate and Openness trade – the link between public debt and real GDP growth is found to depend upon the level of indebtedness of the country. Indeed, public debt in South Africa becomes an impediment to economic growth if it crosses the limit of 31.37% of GDP. Our empirical results have therefore important implications for fiscal policymakers in South Africa to foster economic growth in a context of high public debt level.

A Review of Dietary Surveys in the Adult South African Population from 2000 to 2015

One serious concern of health policymakers in South Africa is the fact that there is no national data on the dietary intake of adult South Africans. The only national dietary study was done in children in 1999. Hence, it becomes difficult to plan intervention and strategies to combat malnutrition without national data on adults. The current review consequently assessed all dietary studies in adults from 2000 to June 2015 in an attempt to portray typical adult dietary intakes and to assess possible dietary deficiencies. Notable findings were that, in South Africa micronutrient deficiencies are still highly prevalent and energy intakes varied between very low intakes in informal settlements to very high intakes in urban centers. The most commonly deficient food groups observed are fruit and vegetables, and dairy. This has been attributed to high prices and lack of availability of these food groups in poorer urban areas and townships. In rural areas, access to healthy foods also remains a problem. A national nutrition monitoring system is recommended in order to identify dietary deficiencies in specific population groups.

Contestations and complexities of nurses’ participation in policy-making in South Africa

BackgroundThere has been increased emphasis globally on nurses’ involvement in health policy and systems development. However, there has been limited scholarly attention on nurses’ participation in policy-making in South Africa.ObjectiveThis paper analyses the dynamics, strengths, and weaknesses of nurses’ participation in four national health workforce policies: the 2008 Nursing Strategy, revision of the Scope of Practice for nurses, the new Framework for Nursing Qualifications, and the Occupation-Specific Dispensation (OSD) remuneration policy.DesignUsing a policy analysis framework, we conducted in-depth interviews with 28 key informants and 73 frontline nurses in four South African provinces. Thematic content analysis was done using the Atlas.ti software.ResultsThe study found that nurses’ participation in policy-making is both contested and complex. The contestation relates to the extent and nature of nurses’ participation in nursing policies. There was a disjuncture between nursing leadership and frontline nurses in their levels of awareness of the four policies. The latter group was generally unaware of these policies with the exception of the OSD remuneration policy as it affected them directly. There was also limited consensus on which nursing group legitimately represented nursing issues in the policy arena. Shifting power relationships influenced who participated, how the participation happened, and the degree to which nurses’ views and inputs were considered and incorporated.ConclusionsThe South African health system presents major opportunities for nurses to influence and direct policies that affect them. This will require a combination of proactive leadership, health policy capacity and skills development among nurses, and strong support from the national nursing association.

South Africa's Post-Apartheid Microcredit-Driven Calamity: Comparing Developmentall to Anti-Developmentall Local Financial Models

Microcredit was once universally lauded in international development community circles as a ‘magic bullet’. Using the example of South Africa, this paper shows that microcredit has actually been an ‘anti-developmental’ local financial model, and one of the most calamitous financial sector interventions in South Africa’s short post-apartheid history. This disastrous performance is compared to a benchmark local financial model that I call the ‘developmental’ local financial model, a financial model that was quite decisive to much recent European and Asian local economic development success. Overall, microcredit can be viewed as South Africa’s own sub-prime-style disaster which, like the original US version, has mainly served to benefit a tiny financial elite working within and around the microcredit sector, whilst simultaneously destroying many of the most important pillars of the economy and society. It clearly behoves policymakers in South Africa, as well as policymakers in other African countries and elsewhere in the international development community, to learn from South Africa’s negative experience with ‘anti-developmental’ microcredit to date and promote alternative ‘developmental’ local financial models.

Enterprising and Delivering a Better Quality of Life for All in South Africa: Progress and Prospects

Delivering a better quality of life for all is a top goal of policy-makers in South Africa. Since the country has become a democracy in 1994, considerable progress has been made in empowering citizens with opportunities towards a better life and in providing them with education, housing and other social services. The expansion of state services has been facilitated by positive economic growth rates to finance the rising welfare redistributions. However, employment has lagged behind output growth, resulting in high levels of unemployment, income inequality and poverty, though this is partly eased by the social grants from the government. This paper examines the progress, challenges and prospects of delivering a better quality of life in South Africa. The prospects for the state sector to enhance the delivery of a better life through the welfare net are limited, while considerable backlogs in service delivery still exist. Some of the challenges, particularly to enhanced job creation and enterprising are associated with labour legislation, low entrepreneurial capacity and education limitations. Using data on unemployment, entrepreneurship (TEA) and real per capita GDP for the period 2000-2012, preliminary regression results indicate that unemployment is inversely related to the country’s TEA rates and growth in real GDP per head impacts significantly on reducing unemployment. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n8p187