South Africa’s distorted distribution of wealth is one of the biggest challenges facing the country’s economy, with unemployment sitting at an unsustainable 27.7%. In terms of wealth, the top percentile households hold 70.9% while the bottom 60% holds a mere 7%. 76% of South Africans face an imminent threat of falling below the poverty line.... Continue Reading →
Since the adoption of a resolution by ANC’s elective conference in December 2017 to change the constitutional provision requiring equitable compensation for land expropriated by the state, the dialogue on the specific constitutional clause as well as on land distribution and ownership in this country appears trapped between the extremes of hyperbole and double talk.... Continue Reading →
The reforms of state policy in the early period of the transition were developed in the context of a broader response to a deepening capitalist crisis globally and in South Africa. A radical black working class organized in COSATU had gained momentum throughout the 1980s and the trade unions were becoming stronger given their mass... Continue Reading →
Capitalist development since the Second World War ushered in unprecedented rates of capital accumulation and structural change in the world economy in the form of rapid industrialisation. Fast and sustained industrialisation has been associated with large increases in wage employment, labour productivity, and health and educational welfare. Countries that have been able to mobilise rapid... Continue Reading →
A strange phenomenon has arisen within the national liberation movement, where some within our ranks seek to sow ideological confusion with the aim of distorting our historical and present reality. The consequence is that in the construction of revolutionary theory - which sees society as a dynamic, contradictory, and changing process - incorrect tactics meant... Continue Reading →
A number of recent speeches by President Thabo Mbeki have highlighted the important reality of “dualism” in the South African political economy. Among other things, the contributions by the President have pointed to the fact that our people inhabit distinct socio-economic worlds, and that there is no logic or dynamic in terms of which growth... Continue Reading →
Zunaid Moolla, New Agenda Deputy Editor spoke to Vivek Chibber while he was on a speaking tour of South Africa. He is a Professor of Sociology at New York University ZM: You have been to South African several times now. Do you see or hear anything different with this visit? VC: No. I have... Continue Reading →
Sibusiso Sibisi is chief executive officer of the CSIR, South Africa’s Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. They don’t make many headlines, but CSIR research and development is opening the way for new made-in- SA technology and enterprises. Ben Turok: Is it true that CSIR was founded mainly to meet the needs of the defence... Continue Reading →
From the struggle years of the mid-1980s to the gearshift of the mid-1990s, progressive academic economists played a tangled role in the development of South Africa’s post-apartheid economic policy. Vishnu Padayachee is distinguished professor and Derek Schrier and Cecily Cameron Chair in Development Economics, School of Economics and Business Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand. For the progressive... Continue Reading →
Alternative approaches to economic development are gaining popularity in many countries. Co-ops may not be considered an alternative approach because they’ve been around for several decades and probably precede the onset of capitalism. In this article IFAA Student and Youth coordinator Rekang Jankie looks at the status of co- ops in South Africa. Drawing comparisons with... Continue Reading →
