Advocate Shaun Abrahams, South Africa’s National Director of Public Prosecutions, has stepped into some torrid waters. At a recent media briefing, he dealt with two issues: the first was his announcement that the National Prosecuting Authority will seek leave to appeal a High Court judgment that the matter of the reinstatement of corruption charges against President Jacob Zuma should be reconsidered.
No particular surprise there.
South Africa’s Bill of Rights enshrines a number of socioeconomic rights. These are crucial for creating an equal society and include the rights of access to healthcare services, sufficient food and water, social assistance and adequate housing. Their aim is to help everyone lead a dignified life.
South Africa needs a radical change in its approach to local economic development. Beyond social security and central government transfers, each district and local municipal area needs a clear plan to attract investment and create jobs.
Sustainability reporting combines economic performance with social responsibility and environmental care. It aims to help businesses set goals. It also measures performance and manages change towards sustainability.
Many governments and stock exchanges require businesses to provide some level of sustainability reporting. This has become important because of growing social and environmental injustices, high-profile corporate scandals and the global financial crisis.
Employment has increased in South Africa over the past 20 years, but it has not been rapid enough to absorb all new job seekers into the labour market. Unemployment has therefore also increased and remains very high.
The most recent figures show a jobless rate of 25.4%, up from 17.6% in 1995. This means that one out of four South Africans in the labour force failed to find work in 2015. This is a far cry from the government’s goal of reducing unemployment to below 15% by 2014.
South Africa has very high unemployment levels. Part of the reason for this is that there has been a disconnect between the growth in employment and the growth in the labour force, that is people who are working or looking for jobs.
Although growth in employment has kept pace with growth in the working-age population, it has not kept pace with growth in the labour force. Unemployment has therefore increased both in absolute terms and as a proportion of the labour force.
Even that family, if people feel it has to be brought to book, structures must do that, the officials must call them and talk to them and give them a marching order not through shouting outside because all of us in the NEC [African National Congress National Executive Committee] have our small skeletons and we don’t want to take all skeletons out because hell will break loose.
Twenty years ago, South Africa embarked on a bold strategy to renew its welfare system. This was part of a larger project to transform South African society to achieve peace and social justice and overcome the social divisions of the past.
Significant policy and legislative achievements have been made, and a rights-based approach to social welfare has been promoted. Formal racial discrimination in access to services has been abolished. In addition, a nationally integrated single welfare system has been created for all South Africans.
The South African economy has been performing very poorly. Like other commodity exporters, export prices have weakened dramatically, company results have deteriorated and foreign and domestic investment have slowed down sharply. South Africa’s performance has been – and is expected to continue to be – worse than that of many other African economies, including commodity exporters. Africa’s anticipated growth rate for 2016 is 3.5% as against South Africa’s 0.9%.
The rise of public sector employment in South Africa has a much greater potential import than the private sector for the future trajectory of the economy’s employment path. We find that a key new facet of the South African labour market is an estimated wage wedge between unionised public sector workers and other formal non-agricultural workers in the labour market.
