Shifting the growth path to achieve employment intensive growth in South Africa

‘Employment intensive growth’ has become a centrepiece of government policy and implies that at any given level of growth, the economy needs to become more labour absorbing. State intervention (or the lack of it) is examined in two areas that are important for employment – agriculture and manufacturing. In the case of agriculture, it is argued that declining and ineffective state support has accelerated the rationalisation of commercial agriculture and failed to regenerate agriculture in the former Bantustans. With regard to the manufacturing sector, we argue that since 1994 the government has set a multiplicity of objectives but, de facto, there has been a surprising level of continuity in the overly generous assistance for heavy, capital-intensive industry. This paper argues that the negative impact of previous ‘distortions’ requires much more than a levelling of the playing field via market-based reforms. Pro-employment policies have to be placed at the centre of the policy agenda.

[1]  J. Sender.  Fictions and elephants in the rondawel: a response to a brief chapter in South Africa's National Development Plan , 2012 .

[2]  N. Vink,et al.  Agricultural Trade and Employment in South Africa , 2011 .

[3]  A. Valdés,et al.  Reflections on the Role of Agriculture in Pro-Poor Growth , 2010 .

[4]  P. Jacobs,et al.  Support for pro-poor agricultural development and rural poverty reduction in Eastern Cape , 2010 .

[5]  S. Roberts,et al.  Industrial policy under democracy: apartheid's grown-up infant industries? Iscor and Sasol , 2010 .

[6]  R. Hall,et al.  The case for re-strategising spending priorities to support small-scale farmers in South Africa , 2010 .

[7]  Ha-Joon Chang.  Please Scroll down for Article Journal of Peasant Studies Rethinking Public Policy in Agriculture: Lessons from History, Distant and Recent Rethinking Public Policy in Agriculture: Lessons from History, Distant and Recent , 2022 .

[8]  J. Thurlow,et al.  Agricultural Distortions, Poverty and Inequality in South Africa , 2009 .

[9]  S. Roberts,et al.  The Evolution and Impact of Industrial and Competition Policies , 2009 .

[10]  V. Ramachandran,et al.  An Assessment of the Investment Climate in South Africa , 2007 .

[11]  R. Pollin,et al.  An Employment-Targeted Economic Program for South Africa , 2007 .

[12]  K. Stamoulis,et al.  Rural development and poverty reduction: is agriculture still the key? , 2007 .

[13]  L. Edwards,et al.  South African Trade Policy Matters: Trade Performance and Trade Policy , 2006 .

[14]  V. Vojtech,et al.  South Africa's Agriculture Policy Review , 2006 .

[15]  R. Hall.  Evaluating Land and Agrarian Reform in South Africa: Rural Restitution , 2003 .

[16]  Peter Fallon.  South Africa - Economic performance and policies , 1994 .

[17]  B. Levy.  How can South African manufacturing efficiently create employment? An analysis of the impact of trade and industrial policy , 1992 .

[18]  C. Bundy.  THE EMERGENCE AND DECLINE OF A SOUTH AFRICAN PEASANTRY , 1972 .

[19]  W. Anseeuw.  Between subsistence and coorporate agriculture : the reinforcement of South Africa's agricultural and territorial dualisms , 2013 .

[20]  Ward Anseeuw.  Entre agriculture de subsistance et agriculture industrielle Le renforcement des dualités agricoles et territoriales en Afrique du Sud , 2013 .

[21]  A. Black,et al.  Capital intensive industrialisation and comparative advantage: Can South Africa do better in labour demanding manufacturing? , 2012 .

[22]  N. Vink,et al.  Agricultural and land policy , 2010 .

[23]  N. Makgetla.  Synthesis Paper: South Africa , 2010 .

[24]  J. May,et al.  Agriculture: Analysis of the NIDS Wave 1 Dataset , 2009 .

[25]  Alan Hirsch.  Season of Hope: Economic Reform under Mandela and Mbeki , 2005 .

[26]  C. Feinstein.  An economic history of South Africa : conquest, discrimination and development , 2005 .

[27]  G. Duvel.  Developing an appropriate extension approach for South Africa : process and outcome , 2004 .

[28]  C. Machethe.  AGRICULTURE AND POVERTY IN SOUTH AFRICA : CAN AGRICULTURE REDUCE POVERTY ? , 2004 .

[29]  R. Kaplinsky,et al.  Improving manufacturing performance in South Africa : report of the Industrial Strategy Project , 1995 .

[30]  Botswana.  National development plan , 1968 .

[31]  R. Horwitz.  The political economy of South Africa , 1967 .