New Agenda 76 is a special edition published as a tribute to our late former editor, Professor Ben Turok. It is being distributed free of charge to all friends, subscribers and supporters of the Institute for African Alternatives (IFAA) and contains tributes to Ben by former president Kgalema Motlanthe, long-time activist and academic Pallo Jordan... Continue Reading →

  On Thursday 29 August 2019, IFAA Director, Prof Ben Turok, was a panelist at the Social Justice Summit organised by Prof Thuli Madonsela as part of the launch for her M-plan. Prof Turok spoke about the fact that South Africa appears to be in a political and economic stalemate. You can read more about... Continue Reading →

In September 2019, the second Rethinking Economics for Africa Festival will take place at Wits University in Johannesburg with conversations on how to rethink economic theory, policy and activism. The one-day festival will play host to a diverse range of local and international speakers, including student activists, prominent academics and civil society organisations working to transform the economics discipline... Continue Reading →

INTRODUCTION South Africa’s election took place in a context in which inequality is worsening, costs of living are going up and unemployment is a major challenge. It also occurred while South Africa’s worst drought in recorded history continues to ravage various villages and towns. All our political parties have failed to recognise the drought as... Continue Reading →

Our next IFAA forum will be on Monday 19 August from 17:30 to 19:30 and will take a look at the crisis in Brazil with Benjamin Fogel. As the Brazilian musician Tom Jobim famously said, "Brazil is not for beginners" and thankfully we have an expert to help us navigate Brazil's crisis. In this forum... Continue Reading →

On 31 July, IFAA's visiting intern Kyle Adams hosted a forum on university institutional reform. Kyle shared valuable experiences from his own university, Wake Forest University, in North Carolina in the US as well as from his research into efforts at UCT and at Brown University. IFAA was pleased that among the audience were representatives... Continue Reading →

IFAA is proud to announce that its Deputy Director, Michael Nassen Smith, has been named as one of Mail and Guardian's Top 200 Young South Africans in the category of Politics and Government. M&G describes the list as "not an award as much as it is a mark of distinction — a number of young... Continue Reading →

The South African Reserve Bank has a constitutional responsibility for conducting monetary policy in South Africa (The Constitution, 1996).  Sections 223 to 225 of the Constitution states that: the South African Reserve Bank is the central bank of the Republic and is regulated in terms of an Act of Parliament; the primary object of the... Continue Reading →