The Unorthodox Response of the South African Economy to Changes in Macroeconomic Policy

The State of Neoliberalism in South Africa: Economic, Social, and Health Transformation in Question

International Journal of Health Services ◽

10.2190/6rrj-nygl-x8le-7uc5 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 27 (1) ◽

pp. 25-40 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Patrick Bond ◽

Yogan G. Pillay ◽

David Sanders

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

South African ◽

Macroeconomic Policy ◽

The State ◽

Health Policies ◽

Political Transformation ◽

The South ◽

Department Of Health ◽

Irreparable Harm ◽

Economic Philosophy

Recent overhauls of the South African government's ruling machinery, in the context of an ever-deepening commitment to neoliberal economic philosophy, have done serious, even irreparable harm to this country's political transformation. Notwithstanding some progress in policies adopted by the Department of Health, the March 1996 closure of the Reconstruction and Development Ministry and the subsequent announcement of a neoliberal macroeconomic policy have been cause for disgruntlement by those advocating progressive social and health policies.

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Can progressive macroeconomic policy address growth and employment while reducing inequality in South Africa?

The Economic and Labour Relations Review ◽

10.1177/1035304619826862 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 30 (1) ◽

pp. 3-21 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Vishnu Padayachee

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

South African ◽

Macroeconomic Policy ◽

African National Congress ◽

Economic Policies ◽

Policy Debate ◽

The South ◽

General Terms ◽

African Context ◽

Jel Code

This article aims to set out some progressive, mainly post-Keynesian, macroeconomic policy ideas for debate and further research in the context of macroeconomic challenges faced by South Africa today. Despite some successes, including at reducing poverty, the South African economy has been characterised by low growth, rising unemployment and increasing inequality, which together with rampant corruption and governance failures combine to threaten the very core of the country’s stability and democracy. The neo-liberal economic policies that the African National Congress–led government surprisingly adopted in 1996 in order to assuage global markets sceptical of its historical support for dirigiste economic policy, have simply not worked. Appropriate progressive macroeconomic interventions are urgently needed to head off the looming prospect of a failed state in the country which Nelson Mandela led to democracy after his release from prison in February 1990. What happens in Africa’s southern tip should still matter for progressives all around the world. The article draws on both history and theory to demonstrate the roots of such progressive heterodox economic thinking and support for a more carefully coordinated activist state-led macroeconomic policy, both in general terms and in the South African context. It shows that such approaches to growth and development – far from being populist – also have a rich history and respectable theoretical pedigree behind them and are worthy of inclusion in the South African policy debate. JEL Code: E12

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