Socio-economic Development In South Africa Research Articles

The Effect of the Recapitalisation and Development Programme on Agricultural Production of Land Reform Beneficiaries in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa

Access to land is a key part of socio-economic development in South Africa. It can be used as a way of rectifying the injustices of the past and lessening the severity of poverty among beneficiaries. To address the issue of land reform, the Recapitalisation and Development Programme (RECAP) was introduced in 2009. The main objectives of this programme are to increase production, guarantee food security, create employment opportunities within the agricultural sector, and graduate small farmers into commercial farmers. This study aimed to analyse the impact of RECAP on land reform projects, focusing on agricultural production in the Eastern Cape. Both primary and secondary data were used in the study, collected through farm/project visits. The results indicated that the programme has made progress towards improving agricultural production on land reform projects since its inception of RECAP. Through RECAP intervention, land reform beneficiaries gained technical skills.

Estimating the Role of Government in Socio-Economic Development in South Africa

The paper examines the relationship between government and socio-economic development in South Africa. The analysis focuses on 1996-2020. Various estimations were undertaken, through the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model, to empirically examine the role of government in socio-economic development in South Africa. Because of the unit root that typically characterizes macroeconomic series, the unit root test using the Augmented Dick Fuller (ADF) test with constant, and trend was done. In addition, the ARDL bound tests were undertaken. The results confirm that government has an important role to play in the economy. However, results show that economic growth does not necessarily translate to socio-economic development although government spending does. In addition, results also confirm that institutions and educational spending are important for social and economic development. For instance, improvements in the quality of institutions increases the human development index. In the same vein, there is a strong positive correlation between increased socio-economic development and spending on education. Results show that the quality of institutions is important for both economic growth and socio-economic development. Overall, the findings support the view that governments should be active in facilitating social and economic development. This is more so in instances where economic performance weakens due to exogenous factors such as the coronavirus pandemic. It is worth highlighting that the baseline ARDL results show that the correlation between gross domestic product (GDP) and its prior values is statistically significant, indicating a meaningful relationship between GDP and socio-economic development.

Creating alternative interventions in social work to promote socio-economic development in South Africa: Lessons from selected social enterprises

Social work interventions for families, individuals and communities should be comprehensive and sustainable. A social enterprise model with dual social and economic value creation provides a useful framework for such interventions. Through a qualitative research approach and case study design, three social enterprises were studied. The findings indicate that social enterprises pursue people-centred investment; engineer and promote social integration and equity in the local communities; and create employment and promote skill development for vulnerable groups such as women and youth. Thus, a social enterprise dual mission for accruing social and economic value aligns with the social work helping mandate, and therefore smoothly integrates.

The Impact of SMEs on Socio-Economic Development in South Africa: A theoretical Survey

This theoretical survey seeks to critically investigate the impact that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have had on socio-economic development in the South African (SA) context. A global perspective of the impact of SMEs is incorporated in order to have a feel of how other economies have benefited from this venture. The survey followed a desktop literature review research design in order to gather data regarding other economies in Europe, Asia, America, Latin America and select countries in Africa. Regarding challenges currently experienced by SMEs, the survey established constrained government support and lack of universally accepted standard unit measurement of SMEs. The survey discovered several varying socioeconomic roles played by SMEs in SA and other regions alike namely, job creation, reduction in rural and urban poverty, narrowing income inequality disparity and contributing towards the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Given the undisputable significant roles played by SMEs particularly in SA, the following recommendations have been advanced in order to strengthen SME’s roles; firstly, streamlining stringent rules and regulations which inhibit SMEs in venturing into more rewarding business opportunities. Secondly, reviewing the prohibitive terms and conditions of accessing financial aid from the government and financial institutions. Thirdly, continuously empowering prospective entrepreneurs through tailor made capacity building initiatives. Keywords: Entrepreneurship, SMEs, socioeconomic development, South Africa. DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/12-20-08 Publication date: July 31 st 2020

The promise and limit of freedom: South Africa and the pursuit of racial justice

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss South Africa’s trajectory of socio-economic development since the advent of democracy a quarter century ago. This is done through a critical discussion and review of major policy interventions that have been implemented to achieve the goal of racial justice. The author argues that while the advent of democracy brought about significant opportunities for social justice, socio-economic development in South Africa has been characterised by increasing wealth and income inequality, which has undermined the cause of racial justice. The key argument the author advances in the paper is that the decline in the power resources of the working class and the poor accounts for the neoliberal turn in economic policy in South Africa.Design/methodology/approachThe paper relies on primary policy documents of the government and on primary political and policy documents of the African National Congress and its political allies such as the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party. The author also reviews the extensive literature on the subject of development policymaking in the new South Africa.FindingsThe main finding is that the advent of democracy a quarter century ago and the policy interventions by the government have brought about social progress in some areas. However, the colonial and apartheid domination still shapes access to social-economic opportunities in South Africa. In anything, income and wealth inequality has increased since 1994. The goal of racial justice appears far from being achieved.Research limitations/implicationsThe key implication arising from the research is that strengthening political organisations of the working class and the poor is critical to attaining the goal of social equity. This is particularly true in a context where elite interests in the state and the corporate sector have been ascendant for the past two decades.Originality/valueWhat is original about the paper is that it is one of the first papers that assess the progress that has made in bringing about racial justice 25 years after the advent of democracy in South Africa. Furthermore, the paper uses the power resources theory to explain the dearth of pro-poor social reform in South Africa. This is a departure from the dominant approach, which explains the adoption of neoliberalism in South Africa as either inevitable due to poor economic performance or an outcome of the sell-out by the ANC political elite.

Engaged and Activist Scholarship for Socio-Economic Development in South Africa: A Conceptual Appraisal

<p><em>The debate around scholarship (engaged and activist) is new in South Africa. Currently, the practice of engaged scholarship and activist scholarship is poor or quasi-inexistent, yet, it is believed that these two approaches can contribute to human rights activism which favours socio-economic development. This paper identifies the patterns and principles of engaged scholarship and activist scholarship and their connection with socio-economic development. It argues that effective engaged and activist scholarship programmes can contribute to and facilitate socio-economic development. Thus, the paper suggests a model outlining four key principles forming a conceptual framework for an effective engaged scholarship and a supporting activist scholarship model that facilitates the awareness and participation of communities in socio-economic development efforts.</em></p>

A Review of Water Storage for Socio-Economic Development in South Africa

South Africa’s water resources are limited and unevenly distributed. To overcome the uneven spread of water resources and to manage floods and drought, more than two thirds of the country’s mean annual rainfall is currently stored in dams. The paper reviews the current water storage capacity of the country at national and provincial levels. Data from a list of registered dams in the country were used to analyse the water storage capacity of the country. Water storage capacity is highest in Free State Province and lowest in Gauteng Province. The results also show that, while it is clear that the country has invested a lot in developing water storage infrastructure, there is potential for the development of additional infrastructure. However, since most of the major rivers are transboundary, the country needs to develop additional storage with full consideration of its ecological requirements and international obligations.

Socio-economic developmental strategies as retail performance indicators: A balanced scorecard approach

ABSTRACTThis research analyses the commitment to and use of ‘balanced scorecards’ by retailers in generating sustainable profitability, whilst contributing to socio-economic development in South Africa. An international literature review of scorecard frameworks, plans and reports by major retail companies and semi-structured dialogic interviews with a purposive sample of retail business stakeholders and government officials formed the methodology. By contrasting the literature and empirical insights, a summary of findings was generated, which conclude that most retailer scorecards (formal or informal) seek to balance financial with ‘cause-related marketing’ targets, but implementation differs according to factors such as company size, developmental maturity and managerial competence. Furthermore, collaboration between retailers and state institutions in scorecard management is not a reality, as has been achieved in other industries. It is therefore recommended that a Retail Charter scorecard framework be considered, to promote public/private-sector knowledge-sharing and socio-economic development.

Trajectories of Power Relations in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Since the official political power shift in 1994, the interaction of power among various groups in South Africa has become an important subject of discussion among academics and researchers. There are four major arguments around power dynamics in South Africa. First, power has officially shifted from whites to blacks, although it is not clear how this in practice has changed power relations. Second, different interest groups in South Africa among the anti-apartheid 'pro- gressives' lacked a clear ideological vision of how to sustain their influence over the policy-making process. Third, due to a lack of synergy of ideological views amongst the progressive constituency, the corporate sector controlling economic power took a controlling influence over the policy-making processes. Finally, the African National Congress (ANC) alli- ance policy-making process shifted from a consultative to an elitist pattern as a result of the new centralised leadership of Thabo Mbeki. This paper critically assesses these four arguments and attempts to explain the complexity of the power dy- namics that arose in post-apartheid South Africa. To do so it traces the evolution of the positions of different organisations within the anti-apartheid coalition from the outset of their rise to power and discusses the different groups' interests and their exertion of power and influence. It looks into the interaction between elites and the implications for socio-economic development in South Africa. This discussion takes place in the context of a four-fold periodisation of post-apartheid South Africa. To realise this, this paper draws from policy documents, relevant literature, and in-depth interviews con- ducted during six months of research fieldwork carried out in 2007.

Crime, poverty, political corruption and conflict In apartheid and post apartheid South Africa: The implications on economic development

The transition to a democratic, elected, non-racial government, which set in motion in early 1990, stirred a debate on the course of economic policies to accomplish sustained economic growth, while at the same time remedying the poverty, and other socio economic discrepancies generated by apartheid government. These include inequality and unemployment (particularly in the black South Africans), corruption, rash in conflict and the most horrible – high rate of crime. This paper examines and compares the level of crimes in the ‘two phases’ (Apartheid and Post Apartheid periods- ‘1994-2005’), and their implications, especially on the socio-economic development in South Africa. The paper further elicits comparative evidence on other socio-economic issues (poverty and inequality, political corruption and conflict) in the two phases and argues that the consolidation of democracy has ameliorated these problems. However, the paper concludes that there are still much improvements needed, particularly on crime. The paper calls on some other African countries to copy a leaf from South Africa’s practical democracy, rather than democracy in principle as the cases in many countries in the continent. Key words: Democracy, poverty, conflict, political corruption, crime, economic development.

Day Labourers, Unemployment and Socio-economic Development in South Africa

One of the most visible forms of unemployment is the men who stand at the side of the road or on corners daily, waiting for any job that may come their way. It is estimated that there are nearly 1,000 places in South Africa where a minimum of about 45,000, mostly black African men, stand, waiting to be picked up. The South African space economy is characterised by an uneven distribution of economic activities. International empirical studies have shown that there is a geographical or spatial coincidence between levels of unemployment and levels of gross domestic product per capita. The first objective of this article is to highlight some of the basic demographic dynamics of day labourers. The second is to investigate the spatial distribution of and the relationship between day labourers, unemployment and the general level of socio-economic development in South Africa. Day labourers share a number of common characteristics, but there were also obvious differences in their morale and spirit. The analyses showed that there is also a general spatial coincidence between levels of socio-economic development and the numbers of day labourers in South Africa, with a relatively high correlation coefficient between the two.

Poverty and non-communicable diseases in South Africa

High levels of wealth inequality with improved health statistics in South Africa (SA) provide an important opportunity to investigate non-communicable diseases (NCDs) among the poor. This paper uses two distinct national data sets to contrast patterns of mortality in rich and poor areas and explore the associations between poverty, risk factors, health care and selected NCDs diseases in South African adults. Causes of premature mortality in 1996 experienced in the poorest magisterial districts are compared with those in the richest, using average household wealth to classify districts. Logistic and multinomial regression are used to investigate the association of a household asset index and selected chronic conditions, related risk factors and healthcare indicators using data from the 1998 South African Demographic and Health Survey. NCDs accounted for 39% and 33% of premature mortality in rich and poor districts respectively. The household survey data showed that the risk factors hypertension and obesity increased with increasing wealth, while most of the lifestyle factors, such as light smoking, domestic exposure to ;;smoky'' fuels and alcohol dependence were associated with poverty. Treatment status for hypertension and asthma was worse for poor people than for rich people. The study suggests that NCDs and lifestyle-related risk factors are prevalent among the poor in SA and treatment for chronic diseases is lacking for poor people. The observed increase in hypertension and obesity with wealth suggests that unless comprehensive health promotion strategies are implemented, there will be an unmanageable chronic disease epidemic with future socioeconomic development in SA.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT REGIONS IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN SPACE ECONOMY

ABSTRACT Inequalities in levels of socio-economic development between different areas in a country occur all over the world. Various theories and models have been formulated to describe these inequalities. In the model of development regions, formulated by Friedmann in 1966, the national economy consists of core, upward-transitional, downward-transitional, resource frontier and special problem regions. In this paper, 17 socioeconomic variables were identified to characterise the five types of development regions. The socio-economic data for the variables were obtained from the 1996 population census and other reports of Statistics South Africa. Principal component, cluster and discriminant analyses were used to demarcate the South African space-economy into a hierarchy of development regions, ranging from the highly developed core region to the special problem regions in need of development assistance. The demarcation confirmed the existence of an uneven spatial pattern of socio-economic development in South Africa. The core-periphery structure is still an established pattern. The demarcation also proved that Friedmann's model of development regions can be used to describe the spatial imbalances in the South African space economy.

The seroepidemiology of hepatitis A virus infection in South African Chinese people.

The age-specific prevalence of antibody to hepatitis A virus (anti-HAV) was determined in 949 Chinese people residing in South Africa in 1983-1985. This small community is comprised of original settlers from the mainland China province of Guandong, where hepatitis A virus infection is endemic, and their South African-born descendants. The overall anti-HAV prevalence (by radioimmunoassay) in South African Chinese people was 57.8%, was lowest in children aged 0-9 and 10-19 years (10.0% and 12.8%, respectively), and rose progressively with increasing age to a peak level of 96.6% in the sixth decade of life. A sharp rise in antibody prevalence to 82.9% was observed in the 30-39 year age group, suggesting a high level of childhood exposure at a time of socioeconomic development in South Africa. The age-specific prevalences of anti-HAV among young South African Chinese people are appreciably lower than those of mainland Chinese children, the majority of whom are infected by age 19 or 20 years. Their rates of infection are also much lower than those for Black South African children living under adverse sanitary conditions. This study indicates that a large proportion of South African Chinese children and adolescents are susceptible to HAV infection and should be included in a broader national vaccination programme.

A Review of the Spatial and Temporal Heterogeneity in Water Supply and Demand Patterns in South Africa

Abstract The recent spate of both droughts and floods has once again highlighted the extreme spatial and temporal heterogeneity in the supply-demand relationship of South Africa’s water resources. The future of socio-economic development in South Africa will be determined, to a large extent, by the availability of water resources to a rapidly increasing population. This paper considers some of South Africa’s water management problems with particular reference to the inequalities which exist in the spatial and temporal supply and demand patterns. Possible solutions to the problems are examined, including the effect of decentralization plans.