Inequality in the South African labour market: The political economy of the national minimum wage

2021 ◽  
pp. 026101832110098
Author(s):  
David Francis ◽  
Imraan Valodia
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Political Economy ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
South African ◽  
Minimum Wage ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
The Political ◽  
The South ◽  
Social Dialogue ◽  
Policy Making Process

In 2019, South Africa implemented a national minimum wage (NMW) for the first time. This is an important intervention, given that the South African labour market continues to generate some of the highest levels of income and wealth inequality in the world. The minimum wage is intended as a structural intervention to transform the labour market by setting a wage floor, while highlighting larger issues that continue to reproduce inequality in the labour market. The process raises interesting questions about the role of social dialogue in the policy making process, especially at a time when the roles of experts and evidence are contested in political economy. This article reviews the national minimum wage process from two angles: assessing the economic evidence and examining the political economy of minimum wages in South Africa. We take this approach in order to better understand the roles of evidence and politics in the policy making process. While both processes were contested, important differences emerge from the analysis: the economic lens highlights the intersection of evidence and ideology, while a political economy review identifies important lines of contestation in the policy making process itself. The national minimum wage process shows that institutionalised social dialogue continues to be a central part of the policy making process, but that it cannot be taken for granted: the particular configuration of the social dialogue process and the roles assigned to each player matter.

scholarly journals Exploring The Incidents Of Strikes In Post-Apartheid South Africa

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 553
Author(s):  
Genius Murwirapachena ◽  
Kin Sibanda
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
South African ◽  
Minimum Wage ◽  
Common Phenomenon ◽  
The South ◽  
Labour Relations ◽  
Stakeholder Relations ◽  
South African Constitution ◽  
The Right

Since the right to strike was recognised in the South African Constitution, strike actions have been a common phenomenon in the country. Causes of strikes in South Africa are multifaceted and their effects detrimentally catastrophic. This paper explored the incidents of strikes in post-apartheid South Africa and it analysed newspaper and other published articles to track down the occurrence, causes, and effects of strikes in South Africa. In this paper, it was established that the main causes of strike actions range from poverty, inequality, and unemployment to union rivalry and the undemocratic nature of the labour relations. It also established the effects of strike actions which are both social and economic. To achieve labour market stability, this paper recommended the democratisation of labour relations, the creation of sound stakeholder relations, turning employees into employers through indigenisation policies, and the implementation of a national minimum wage.

Ethnic Factors in the Evolution of the South African Military

1975 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 21-28
Author(s):  
Cynthia H. Enloe
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Political Institution ◽  
The Political ◽  
The South ◽  
Scant Attention ◽  
Ethnic Factors ◽  
The Military

Virtually all of the literature concerning the politics of South Africa analyzes the dynamics of that system within the frameworks of racism, authoritarianism, and repression. Yet, strangely, the political institution which is necessarily the bulwark of such a system—the military—has attracted scant attention except in terms of strategy and armaments.

Challenges and Complexities of the South African Economy

2021 ◽  
pp. 2-25
Author(s):  
Fiona Tregenna ◽  
Arabo K. Ewinyu ◽  
Arkebe Oqubay ◽  
Imraan Valodia
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Growth And Development ◽  
The Political ◽  
Economic Data ◽  
Growth Path ◽  
The South ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Policy Context ◽  
Key Characteristics

This chapter discusses the key characteristics and core challenges of the South African economy in the post-apartheid era. South Africa shares some commonalities with other African and middle-income economies, yet has a unique history and some distinctive economic features. South Africa’s economic complexities and challenges are discussed here with reference to six comparator countries. We examine South Africa’s growth path, considering the low rates of economic growth as well as the lack of structural transformation and the unsustainable and non-inclusive nature of this growth. The ‘triple challenges’ of poverty, inequality, and employment are both a manifestation of the nature of this growth path and a constraint on overall growth. This is also briefly evaluated in the context of the political economy and policy context of growth and development in South Africa. The chapter reviews South African economic data, with a focus on microeconomic survey data.

From Pigmentocracy to Representocracy

2018 ◽  
pp. 203-260
Author(s):  
Vineet Thakur
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
South African ◽  
Political Leadership ◽  
Policy Formulation ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
The Political ◽  
The South ◽  
Institutional Structures

This chapter traces the post-apartheid transformation of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in South Africa. It argues that in the first decade of transition, the Department remained preoccupied with the process of internal restructuring, which was successfully achieved. This caused structural pains as many of the old white diplomats left the service, robbing the Department of crucial expertise. In these years, the political leadership played a stronger role in the South African foreign policymaking. While Mandela’s foreign policy formulation was ad-hocist, Mbeki relied on institutional structures. However, rather than emphasizing on strengthening the DFA, he created new institutional structures under his integrated governance scheme which, ironically, further centralised foreign policymaking. Consequently, the DFA was further marginalized.

A Case for a Transforming Christology in South Africa

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 310-326
Author(s):  
Jakobus (Koos) M. Vorster
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
African Literature ◽  
Kingdom Of God ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Historical Jesus ◽  
The Political ◽  
The South ◽  
South African Literature ◽  
Lost In Translation

Abstract In the South African discourse on the political relevance of Jesus Christ, a vast array of conceptions of Jesus emerged over the years of the struggle, the liberation, the quest for spirituality and the theology of reconstruction. This discourse has taken place within the framework of the two broad historical movements of a “high” and a “low” Christology. In a recent thought provoking and informative article Mouton & Smit investigated four of the dominant discourses on Jesus in contemporary South Africa.1 They surveyed the discussions of Jesus in the popular news and newspaper debates, academic circles and scholarship, the worship and spirituality of congregations and believers, and public opinion about social and political life. After reviewing a huge corpus of South African literature on concepts of Jesus they ask the question whether Jesus was lost in translation in the South Africa of recent times. This article is an attempt to take the argument further. First of all, the investigation will provide another outline of the Christologies in the recent South African discourse within the broad framework of a “high” and a “low” Christology. The concepts under consideration are the spiritual Jesus, the political Jesus and the historical Jesus. Then a case will be made for the transforming Jesus of the Kingdom of God as a corrective on the Christologies of Apartheid, the liberation struggle and the modern-day post-modern projections of the historical Jesus.

The 1952 Jan Van Riebeeck Tercentenary Festival: Constructing and Contesting Public National History in South Africa

1993 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 447-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ciraj Rassool ◽  
Leslie Witz
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Public History ◽  
Cape Town ◽  
African National Congress ◽  
The Political ◽  
The South ◽  
National History ◽  
Political Project ◽  
The 1950S

For all approaches to the South African past the icon of Jan Van Riebeeck looms large. Perspectives supportive of the political project of white domination created and perpetuate the icon as the bearer of civilization to the sub-continent and its source of history. Opponents of racial oppression have portrayed Van Riebeeck as public (history) enemy number one of the South African national past. Van Riebeeck remains the figure around which South Africa's history is made and contested.But this has not always been the case. Indeed up until the 1950s, Van Riebeeck appeared only in passing in school history texts, and the day of his landing at the Cape was barely commemorated. From the 1950s, however, Van Riebeeck acquired centre stage in South Africa's public history. This was not the result of an Afrikaner Nationalist conspiracy but arose out of an attempt to create a settler nationalist ideology. The means to achieve this was a massive celebration throughout the country of the 300th anniversary of Van Riebeeck's landing. Here was an attempt to display the growing power of the apartheid state and to assert its confidence.A large festival fair and imaginative historical pageants were pivotal events in establishing the paradigm of a national history and constituting its key elements. The political project of the apartheid state was justified in the festival fair through the juxtaposition of ‘civilization’ and economic progress with ‘primitiveness’ and social ‘backwardness’. The historical pageant in the streets of Cape Town presented a version of South Africa's past that legitimated settler rule.Just as the Van Riebeeck tercentenary afforded the white ruling bloc an opportunity to construct an ideological hegemony, it was grasped by the Non-European Unity Movement and the African National Congress to launch political campaigns. Through the public mediums of the resistance press and the mass meeting these organizations presented a counter-history of South Africa. These oppositional forms were an integral part of the making of the festival and the Van Riebeeck icon. In the conflict which played itself out in 1952 there was a remarkable consensus about the meaning of Van Riebeeck's landing in 1652. The narrative constructed, both by those seeking to establish apartheid and those who sought to challenge it, represented Van Riebeeck as the spirit of apartheid and the originator of white domination. The ideological frenzy in the centre of Cape Town in 1952 resurrected Van Riebeeck from obscurity and historical amnesia to become the lead actor on South Africa's public history stage.

scholarly journals The dual labour market theory and the informal sector in South Africa

2006 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. D. Uys ◽  
P. F. Blaauw
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
South African ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Informal Sector ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Informal Employment ◽  
The South ◽  
Market Theory

Purpose of the paper: The purpose of this paper is to revisit the dual labour market theory as far as the informal sector in South Africa is concerned. The hypothesis is that the dual labour market theory must be extended in order to be applicable to the informal sector of the South African economy. It is our view that within some informal occupations a further segmentation exists. Problem investigated: Among South Africa ’s grave socio-economic problems, unemployment is one of the most serious and intractable. An increase in informal and self-employment was experienced during the last decades. Traditional dual labour market theory maintains that jobs can be roughly divided into two groups: those with low wages, bad working conditions, unstable employment and little opportunity for advancement; and those with relatively high wages, good working conditions and opportunities for advancement. The problem that confronts researchers is that even within informal employment, further segmentation is possible. Approach: To determine whether the dualism, that described by the dual labour market theory, is also present within the informal sector itself, available data on a typical informal sector activity, namely car guarding, is analysed. This provides the evidence to achieve the objective of this paper. Findings and implications: The case study of car guards confirms that the dual labour market theory can also apply within the informal sector on the condition that it is expanded to make provision for a further segmentation of the periphery sector. This finding presents several important policy implications. A basket of policies is needed to address the problem of unemployment as effectively as possible. Value of the research: The paper provides further knowledge on informal employment in South Africa. This is an area that requires a lot of attention, given the importance of the informal sector in South Africa and Africa at large. It goes further than the traditional implications stemming from the dual labour market theory. Conclusion: The South African labour market is fragmented, consisting of a well-paid formal sector and the periphery that consists of workers in the informal sector, subsistence agriculture and the unemployed. Within the periphery, there is the possibility that a certain degree of dualism exists. The case study of car guards confirms that the dual labour market theory can be extended to make provision for this dualism, even within the informal sector.

scholarly journals The Post-Apartheid Labour Market Series

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-49
Author(s):  
Andrew Kerr ◽  
Martin Wittenberg
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
South African ◽  
Cape Town ◽  
Data Repository ◽  
Household Surveys ◽  
The South ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
University Of Cape Town ◽  
The University

Abstract The Post-Apartheid Labour Market Series (palms) is a compilation of microdata from 69 household surveys conducted in South Africa. The dataset and the code used to create the data are publicly available from DataFirst, a data repository at the University of Cape Town (www.doi.org/10.25828/gtr1-8r20). To harmonise the data required understanding the differences across the surveys, which has generated new knowledge about the South African labour market.

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