scholarly journals Transformation and development towards a fully inclusive society and economy in the City of Johannesburg, South Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-74
Author(s):  
Paul Kibuuka

This paper analyzes the state of economic growth and development in the City of Johannesburg (COJ) South Africa as by the year 2016 and presents a case for transformation and development of the City towards a fully inclusive economy and society. The research reveals that faster and sustainable economic growth in addition to proactive pro-equity policies are a sine qua non for inclusive growth and participation in the City, where the triple challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment persist more than 20 years into the democratic dispensation. During the last 17 years the City economy has grown at almost the same pace as the national South African economy with a trend reflective of major world economic events. Going forward, the South African economy is projected to grow at less 2% annually in the next 3 years. In terms of the City, the prognosis is that the City will either continue to trace the national economic growth rate or decline from 2% in 2016 to 1% in 2018. In order to achieve the objectives and goals of the Johannesburg 2040 Growth and Development Strategy in the long term and the City Integrated Development Plan in the medium term, the City leadership and administration will need to begin by not only addressing factors that inhibit economic efficiency including crime and corruption, but also the provision of a critical pipeline of skills required by industry in order to attract local and international investment. The increase in investment is expected to broaden the revenue base and to strengthen the financial capacity of the City to roll out services to the previously disadvantaged communities so as to bring them into the mainstream of economic empowerment and social transformation.

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise van Scheers

This research analyzes whether there is a link between economic growth and SMEs success in South Africa. The South African economy can only grow with the contribution of growing sustainably SMEs which will accelerate economic growth. The research concluded that SME success has a positive impact on sustainable economic growth in South Africa and that there is a link between economic growth and SME success. The conducted research recommends that by improving the success rate of SME, the South Africa’s stagnating economy


Author(s):  
Roberts Cynthia ◽  
Leslie Armijo ◽  
Saori Katada

The chapter analyzes the prospects for continued BRICS collective financial statecraft. Contrary to initial expectations, the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) have hung together by identifying common aversions and pursuing common interests within the existing international order. Their future depends not only on their bargaining power, but also on their ability to overcome domestic impediments to the sustainable economic growth that provides the basis for their international positions. To continue successfully with collective financial statecraft, the members must tackle the so-called middle-income trap, as well as their preferences for informal rules originating from their own institutional weaknesses or regime preferences. This study shows that, in the context of a global power shift, the BRICS club has operated to protect the member countries’ respective policy autonomy, while also advancing their joint voice in global governance. Recently, the BRICS have made concrete institutional gains, giving them expanded outside options to achieve specific objectives in global finance.


2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gugulethu Siziba ◽  
Lloyd Hill

AbstractThe Zimbabwean diaspora is a well-documented phenomenon. While much research has been done on Zimbabwean migration to South Africa, the role that language plays in this process has not been well researched. This article draws on South African census data and qualitative fieldwork data to explore the manner in which Zimbabwean migrants use languages to appropriate spaces for themselves in the City of Johannesburg. The census data shows that African migrants tend to concentrate in the Johannesburg CBD, and fieldwork in this area reveals that Zimbabwean migrants are particularly well established in two suburbs—Yeoville and Hillbrow. The article explores migrant language repertoires, which include English, Shona, Ndebele, and a variant of Zulu. While many contributions to the migration literature tend to assume a strong association between language and ethnicity, the article shows how this relationship is mediated by geographic location and social positioning within the city. (Language, migration, Johannesburg, South Africa, Zimbabwe)*


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1(J)) ◽  
pp. 110-121
Author(s):  
Bongumusa Prince Makhoba, ◽  
Irrshad Kaseeram

Several empirical works have yielded mixed and controversial results with regard to the effects of FDI on employment and economic growth. The primary focus of this study is to investigate the contribution of FDI to domestic employment levels in the context of the South African economy. The analyses of the study were carried out using the annual time series data from 1980 to 2015. The macroeconomic variables employed in the empirical investigation include employment, FDI, GDP, inflation, trade openness and unit labour costs. The study used secondary data from the South African Reserve Bank and Statistics South Africa database. The study estimated a Vector Autoregressive/ Vector Error Correction Mechanism (VAR/VECM) approach to conduct empirical analysis. However, the study also employed single equation estimation techniques, including the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS), Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS) and Canonical Cointegrating Regression (CCR) models as supporting tools to verify the VAR/VECM results. This study provides strong evidence of a significant negative relationship between FDI and employment levels in the South African economy. Empirical analysis of the study suggests that the effect of economic growth on employment is highly positive and significant in South Africa’s economy. The study recommends that policymakers ought to invest more in productive sectors that aim to promote economic growth and development to boost employment opportunities in South Africa.


Author(s):  
Nic Olivier ◽  
Carin Van Zyl

This article provides an overview of some developments, internationally, regionally and in the SADC, in relation to development, that may be expected to influence the South African government’s response to the development needs of the people in the country.  An overview is provided of the somewhat haphazard way in which the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 refers to the need for and objective of development (including rural development) in the country.  Through their explanatory outline of three distinct phases in South African rural development law and policy: 1994–2000 (the Reconstruction and Development Programme and related documents and their implementation); 2000–April 2009 (the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Strategy and its implementation) and April 2009+ (the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme and related documents), the authors review some of the historical strengths and future prospects related to rural development in South Africa.  Based on an assessment of historical trends, a number of recommendations are made for government’s way forward in the implementation of the constitutional objectives, law and policy relevant to rural development in the country.


2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 15-24
Author(s):  
Ntebogang Dinah Moroke ◽  
Molebogeng Manoto

This paper investigated exports, imports and the economic growth nexus in the context of South Africa. The paper sets out to examine if long-run and causal relationships exist between these variables. Quarterly time series data ranging between 1998 and 2013 obtained from the South African Reserve Bank and Quantec databases was employed. Initial data analysis proved that the variables are integrated at their levels. The results further indicated that exports, imports and economic growth are co-integrated, confirming an existence of a long-run equilibrium relationship. Granger causal results were shown running from exports and imports to GDP and from imports to exports, validating export-led and import-led growth hypotheses in South Africa. A significant causality running from imports to exports, suggests that South Africa imported finished goods in excess. If this is not avoided, lots of problems could be caused. A suggestion was made to avoid such problematic issues as they may lead to replaced domestic output and displacement of employees. Another dreadful ramification may be an adverse effect on the economy which may further be experienced in the long-run.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 457-477
Author(s):  
Andre DW Brand ◽  
◽  
Johannes E Drewes ◽  
Maléne Campbell ◽  
◽  
...  

<abstract> <p>Cities are playing an increasingly important role in the development and growth of countries. A country's growth and prosperity is largely dependent on the efficient functioning of its cities. The reliance of countries on the ability of their cities to perform crucial central functions, for national growth, continues to rise. South Africa has a long-standing network of cities, towns and localities. These have developed and become hierarchised over the course of history during which population settlements and their distribution have been influenced by colonisation, segregation, industrialisation and globalisation. Since 1911, South Africa has undergone an extended phase of intense urban growth, with areas such as Johannesburg, Cape Town and eThekwini (Durban) agglomerating into dominating economic spaces. There are, however, no universally accepted, distinct criteria that constitute the general characteristics of secondary cities. The common assumption is that secondary cities are those cities that find themselves below the apex of what are considered primary cities. Furthermore, internationally, secondary cities appear to be considered as important catalysts for balanced and dispersed economic growth. In the South African context, the notion of what constitutes secondary cities is to a large extent underdeveloped. The aim of the paper is to appraise interconnected regional networks as a differentiated and novel outlook when determining secondary cities in South Africa. What is evident from the paper is that there are different potential alternatives with which to portray secondary cities.</p> </abstract>


Author(s):  
P. Mozias

South African rand depreciated in 2013–2014 under the influence of a number of factors. Internationally, its weakness was associated with the capital outflow from all emerging markets as a result of QE’s tapering in the US. Domestically, rand plummeted because of the deterioration of the macroeconomic stance of South Africa itself: economic growth stalled and current account deficit widened again. Consumer spending was restrained with the high household indebtedness, investment climate worsened with the wave of bloody strikes, and net export was still prone to J-curve effect despite the degree of the devaluation happened. But, in its turn, those problems are a mere reflection of the deep institutional misbalances inherent to the very model of the national economy. Saving rate is too low in South Africa. This leads not only to an insufficient investment, but also to trade deficits and overdependence on speculative capital inflows. Extremely high unemployment means that the country’s economic potential is substantially underutilized. Joblessness is generated, first and foremost, by the dualistic structure of the national entrepreneurship. Basic wages are being formed by way of a bargaining between big public and semi state companies, on the one hand, and trade unions associated with the ruling party, on the other. Such a system is biased towards protection of vested interests of those who earn money in capital-intensive industries. At the same time, these rates of wages are prohibitively high for a small business; so far private companies tend to avoid job creation. A new impulse to economic development is likely to emerge only through the government’s efforts to mitigate disproportions and to pursue an active industrial policy. National Development Plan adopted in 2012 is a practical step in that direction. But the growth of public investment is constrained by a necessity of fiscal austerity; as a result, the budget deficit remained too large in recent years. South African Reserve Bank will have to choose between a stimulation of economic growth with low interest rates, on the one hand, and a support of rand by tightening of monetary policy, on the other. This dilemma will greatly influence prices of securities and yields at South African financial markets.


2021 ◽  
pp. 2-25
Author(s):  
Fiona Tregenna ◽  
Arabo K. Ewinyu ◽  
Arkebe Oqubay ◽  
Imraan Valodia

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.


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