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Service - Leadership in Government - Issue 76

  • Text
  • Agenda
  • Development
  • Governance
  • Government
  • Leadership
  • Inequality
  • Poverty
  • Digital
  • Economy
  • Cape
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  • African
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S economy Policies go

S economy Policies go some way to tackling poverty and inequality. But more is needed South Africa is one of the most unequal societies in the world. More than 50% of the population live in poverty. Despite notable gains in poverty reduction post-apartheid, poverty levels have remained consistently highest among women, black South Africans, people with disabilities, and those living in rural areas. By Sophie Plagerson, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Social Development in Africa, University of Johannesburg The government has committed itself to addressing poverty, inequality and social exclusion – understood as disadvantage by gender, race, disability or place. The mandate is laid out in the Constitution and in the government’s National Development Plan. The plan was adopted in September 2012 as a blueprint for eliminating poverty and significantly reducing inequality by 2030. But do the country’s laws, policies and strategy documents show exactly how poverty, inequality and social exclusion will be tackled? Under review: How policymakers and legislators have faced these systemic challenges in drafting their documents. To answer this question, researchers at the Centre for Social Development in Africa undertook an extensive review commissioned by the National Development Agency. Under review: 501 legislative, policy and strategy documents under the Medium Term Strategic Framework Outcomes, the implementation strategy of the National Development Plan (2014-2019). The documents cover education, health, safety and security, economic growth and employment, skills, infrastructure, rural development, human settlements, local government, environment, public service, social protection, nation-building and social cohesion. Methodology: Each document was reviewed to determine the number of references to poverty, inequality, social exclusion, gender, race, disability, youth unemployment and spatial inequality. The references were then analysed on whether they were generic or specific. The researchers considered whether the documents showed an understanding of the issues and looked for solutions. Their findings reveal that there is at least some engagement with poverty, inequality and social exclusion in all governmental sectors. But it is inconsistent. Steps were then identified that could improve progress. Findings: More than half of all policy and strategy documents and 10% of legislative documents mentioned poverty, inequality, social exclusion, gender, ___ __ References to poverty, inequality and social exclusion must explain how they affect each law and policy. They should also offer strategic interventions. STATE OF THE SA NATION “Over the past year, South Africa has experienced a sharp decline in growth and a significant increase in unemployment. Poverty is on the rise. Inequality is deepening. In the third quarter of 2020, our economy was 6% smaller than it was in the last quarter of 2019. “There were 1.7-million fewer people employed in the third quarter of 2020 than there were in the first quarter, before the pandemic struck. Our unemployment rate now stands at a staggering 30.8%. As a result of the relief measures that we implemented and the phased reopening of the economy, we expect to see a strong recovery in employment by the end of the year. As we worked to contain the spread of the virus, we also had to take extraordinary measures to support ordinary South Africans, assist businesses in 26 distress | and Service protect people’s magazine livelihoods. “The Social and Economic Relief Package that we introduced in April last year is the largest intervention of its kind in our history. It identified measures worth a total of R500-billion – or about 10% of our gross domestic product – to provide cash directly to the poorest households, to provide wage support to workers and to provide various forms of relief to struggling businesses. A total of 18-million people, or close to one-third of the population, received additional grant payments through these relief measures. “It is estimated that this grant lifted more than five-million people above the food poverty line, helping to alleviate hunger in a moment of great crisis. To date, more than R57-billion in wage support has been paid to over 4.5-million workers through the special Unemployment Insurance Fund Temporary Employer-Employee Relief Scheme (TERS).” President Cyril Ramaphosa, SONA, 2021

The Conversation. Creative Commons licence “People of South Africa, it is your country that calls on you to rise. Let us march forward together to equality, to growth, to dignity and to recovery.” race, disability and spatial disparities at least once. The social protection sector showed the highest average number of references to poverty (58), inequality (70) and social exclusion (116) in its documents. The public service sector showed the lowest number of references. There are many more references in policy and strategy documents than in legislative documents. More references do not mean deeper engagement with these issues. In some cases, the issues are not critically analysed. References to poverty, inequality and social exclusion must explain how they affect each law and policy. They should also offer strategic interventions. Some sectors do take this holistic approach to policymaking. In the health sector, for example, it was found that some policy and strategy documents examine the connection between poverty, inequality and health outcomes. The Breast Cancer Control Policy, for instance, identifies transport as a constraint to accessing health services. It was also found that references to gender and spatial disparities are most common when addressing social exclusion. But references to population groups, disability and youth who are not in education or training are inconsistent across the board. RESEARCH REMEDIES • Recognition of poverty, inequality and social exclusion cannot be limited to policy and strategy documents. It must be reflected in legislative documents. Laws are binding. President Ramaphosa, State of the Nation Address, 2021 But do the country’s laws, policies and strategy documents show exactly how poverty, inequality and social exclusion will be tackled? • Policymaking institutions must take ownership of the national mandate. Each government department must develop solutions. They cannot simply rely on the National Development Plan to reduce poverty and inequality. • Government departments could develop a toolkit based on shared good practice. This would help to translate documents into action. Documents must be grounded in data, analysis and strategic responses. Drafters must consider trade-offs and holistic approaches. They must also make strategic use of flagship programmes and participatory processes. • Future Medium Term Strategic Framework documents should be based on goalsetting guidelines for poverty, inequality and social exclusion. This will achieve greater consistency in targets and indicators. Laws and policies are only one part of making a real difference in people’s lives. But they are an important link in the chain of transformation. South Africa’s policy sectors and government departments can learn from one another to address poverty and inequality more consistently and effectively. THE GAP BETWEEN POLICY AND PRACTICE Policies matter and can make a real difference. But on their own they are insufficient. They must be implemented. Change happens through stakeholders and processes. More needs to be done to include poverty, inequality and social exclusion in all policymaking. S • Disclosure statement: The research was funded by the National Development Agency (South Africa). TACKLING INEQUALITY AND POVERTY: A TOUGH TASK AHEAD FOR GOVERNMENT The quarterly labour force survey data recently released by Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) reflects the challenge faced by government in dealing with inequality and poverty as the impact of Covid-19 deepens across the major economic sectors. According to StatsSA, South Africa’s unemployment rate rose to 32.5% in the fourth quarter of 2020, from 30.8% in the previous period. This is the highest jobless rate since quarterly data became available in 2008, amid the ongoing lockdown aimed at fighting the spread of the pandemic, which has contributed to the depressed economic environment. The labour force participation rate was also higher in the fourth quarter of 2020 when compared to the third quarter of 2020 because of these movements, thus increasing by 2.4 percentage points to 56.6% as reported. “Job creation should be a consolidated effort by both government and the private sector. The repeated trends of jobs being lost in key demand-driving sectors of the metals and engineering (M&E) sector, such as construction, is worrying as it demonstrates lack of business activity. For unemployment levels to fall, investment-driven economic recovery is key,” said SEIFSA Chief Economist Chifipa Mhango. Mhango remains hopeful that government’s economic revival plan, which plans to increase infrastructure spending to unlock R1-trillion in private investment over the next four years, while also directing R1-billion towards job creation, will be positive for the M&E sector. However, he cautioned that its sustainability remains a concern as it will weigh on fiscal accounts and Treasury’s consolidation efforts. Mhango expects the economy to rebound in 2021, as economic activity gradually recovers amid lockdown easing. “The contribution of the M&E sector to overall employment remains key for the economy. However, persistent challenges faced by business in the sector, such as high electricity costs as well as disruption in its supply, rising logistics costs and imports are likely to weigh negatively on the industry, thus affecting job creation in the overall manufacturing sector,” he concluded, adding that, “Job creation relies on the economic growth of the country.” SEIFSA Chief Economist, Chifipa Mhango

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