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Inequality and Economic Inclusion

Inequality and Economic Inclusion (59)

South Africa remains one of the most inequitable countries in the world, distinguished by unusually high levels of joblessness as well as inequalities in wages and asset ownership. TIPS work in this area has focused on:

  • How the structure of the economy affects unemployment, local economic development and economic opportunities. This work has considered the nature of dominant industries and value chains, competition, education and training systems, small enterprise, the informal sector and labour markets.
  • The effects of the spatial inequality that was entrenched under apartheid, both in terms of the persistence of profound differentials between the former “homelands” and the rest of the country as well as within urban areas, especially the metros. TIPS has looked at migrant labour in mining; rural development strategies; the agricultural value chain; and the scope for payment for environmental services to create rural employment.
  • Support for employment-creation programmes and in particular the Community Work Programme (CWP). This work has included advisory services on the scaling up of the CWP, facilitation of alignment between the Department of Cooperative Governance and other partner departments, and inputs into the monitoring and evaluation of the programme. 

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Tuesday, 08 September 2020

Inequality in South Africa: An Overview

  • Year 2020
  • Organisation TIPS
  • Author(s) Neva Makgetla (TIPS)
  • Countries and Regions South Africa
A quarter of a century after apartheid ended, South Africa remained one of the most unequal countries in the world, by class, race and gender. Inequality emerged in unusually stark differences in household incomes; asset ownership, including both concentrated business ownership and household resources; access to quality education, which still…
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Saturday, 21 March 2020

Unpacking water and sanitation access in South Africa: A renewed call for more action

  • Year 2020
  • Organisation TIPS
  • Author(s) Shakespear Mudombi
  • Countries and Regions South Africa
Although many issues affect the water and sanitation sector, this Working Paper focuses on the access to those services. An in-depth assessment of the progress made in providing water and sanitation services can help inform various stakeholders and decision-makers about the need for renewed effort towards universal access. Against this…
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Thursday, 21 February 2019

Inclusive business as employment generator in rural settlements

  • Year 2019
  • Organisation TIPS
  • Author(s) Wytske O. Chamberlain
  • Countries and Regions South Africa
The aim of this report is to identify how commercial businesses can generate employment opportunities in rural areas through inclusive business models. 
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Sunday, 17 June 2018

Community Work Programme - background materials

  • Year 2018
These background materials on the Community Work Programme were prepared as part of induction training for non-profit agencies appointed to implement the CWP, and as an introduction for other stakeholders. The materials were originally developed for the Department of Co-operative Governance by TIPS in 2013. They have been partly updated…
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Published in Community Work Programme
Wednesday, 27 January 2016

A perfect storm: Migrancy and mining in the North West province

  • Year 2016
  • Organisation TIPS
  • Author(s) Neva Makgetla; Saul Levin
  • Countries and Regions South Africa
The roots of the industrial conflict in the North West province platinum mining belt in 2012 that led to the Marikana massacre cannot be found in the normal narrative of low wages and circular migrant labour entrenched under apartheid. Although South African miners earned far less than their equals in…
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Wednesday, 15 October 2014

Manufacturing employment and equality in South Africa

  • Year 2014
  • Organisation TIPS
  • Author(s) Neva Makgetla
  • Countries and Regions South Africa
In 2014, South Africa remained one of the most unequal countries in the world, an outlier by global standards in terms of both overall inequality as measured by the Gini coefficient and levels of joblessness. For proponents of industrialisation as central to long-term development, this situation raises two questions. First,…
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Sunday, 08 December 2013

The Community Work Programme: Building a Society that Works

  • Year 2013
  • Organisation TIPS
  • Author(s) Kate Philip
  • Countries and Regions South Africa
In the context of a global jobs crisis, there is renewed interest in the role of public employment in providing work opportunities. This context has also seen a range innovation in public employment, with new forms of work and new approaches to implementation and delivering different kinds of outcomes. The…
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Published in Community Work Programme
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Friday, 23 August 2013

An Appraisal of Local Economic Development Impact Assessment Methodologies in the Context of the Community Work Programme

  • Year 2013
  • Organisation TIPS
  • Author(s) Evans Chinembiri; Mbofholowo Tsedu
  • Countries and Regions South Africa
This paper looks at the strengths and weaknesses of current methodologies in capturing the kinds of local economic development impacts from the CWP. It aims to fill the gap of methodologies available for measuring economic multipliers in a local economy. (The Employment Promotion Programme (EPP) Research)
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Published in Community Work Programme
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Tuesday, 20 August 2013

The Transformative Potential of Public Employment Programmes

  • Year 2013
  • Organisation University of Cape Town Graduate School of Development Policy and Practice
  • Author(s) Kate Philip
  • Countries and Regions South Africa
After the Great Depression in the 1930s, part of the recovery in the United States of America relied upon a massive programme of public works, under the Works Progress Administration. Its impact was not just as a stimulus; it also provided a focus of social participation and inclusion. Yet, in…
Published in Community Work Programme
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Thursday, 25 April 2013

The South African Community Capability Study: The Context of Public Primary Education and the Community Work Programme

  • Year 2013
  • Organisation TIPS
  • Author(s) Centre for Democratising Information
  • Countries and Regions South Africa
A key part of the motivation to potentially scale up the CWP to a million participants included a proposed strategy of support to schools. This research looks at the impact of CWP's schools support at a sample of schools that have received such support. (The Employment Promotion Programme (EPP) Research)  
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Published in Community Work Programme
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Thursday, 25 April 2013

The South African Community Capability Study: The Community Work Programme

  • Year 2013
  • Organisation TIPS
  • Author(s) Centre for Democratising Information.
  • Countries and Regions South Africa
This qualitative study assessed the impact of the Community Work Programme (CWP) on the capabilities of participants and communities. It showed the programme had significantly expanded participants capability set and had contributed to improving both individual and community wellbeing. (The Employment Promotion Programme (EPP) Research)
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Published in Community Work Programme
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Thursday, 25 April 2013

Predicting Poverty Impacts of Expanding the Community Work Programme in South Africa

  • Year 2013
  • Organisation Development Policy Research Unit
  • Author(s) DPRU
  • Countries and Regions South Africa
This paper looks at the role that potential poverty-reducing impact that the CWP could have is expanded. While acknowledging that there are significant non-monetary impacts, the focus is on measuring the impact that earning the CWP wage would have on household poverty and inequality. (The Employment Promotion Programme (EPP) Research)
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Published in Community Work Programme
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Monday, 29 October 2012

Working Paper Series 2012-02 Green Economy Policy Framework and Employment Opportunity: A South African Case Study

  • Year 2012
  • Organisation TIPS
  • Author(s) Gaylor Montmasson-Clair
  • Countries and Regions South Africa
In 2012, South Africa remains faced with the triple developmental challenge of unemployment, poverty and inequality. In addition, the country's current economic growth model is heavily resource and energy-intensive, aggravating pressures on the environment and the threat of climate change. The transition to a green economy, stemming from the concept…
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Tuesday, 21 August 2012

How the structure of the economy impacts on opportunities on the margins

  • Year 2012
  • Author(s) Kate Phillip
  • Countries and Regions South Africa
In the face of a long-standing unemployment crisis that increasingly threatens social and economic stability, employment has at last taken centre stage in South African policy, and with this, a focus on the structural constraints on employment creation within the economy. The New Growth Path, approved by Cabinet in November…
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Published in Second Economy Strategy Project
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Monday, 13 August 2012

Inequality, unemployment and poverty in South Africa

  • Year 2012
  • Author(s) Fiona Tregenna; Mfanafuthi Tsela
Unemployment and earnings inequality in South Africa have declined in recent years, while the trend in overall income inequality is unclear. Inequality and unemployment both remain at extremely high levels by historical and international standards. There has been a very close relationship between trends in unemployment and earnings inequality in…
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Published in Second Economy Strategy Project
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Monday, 23 January 2012

Assessment of crèches supported by the Bohlabela Community Work Programme October 2011 by Lima Rural Development Foundation

  • Year 2012
  • Organisation TEBA; Lima
  • Countries and Regions South Africa
The Community Work Programme (CWP) was implemented as a pilot programme in Bushbuckridge and several other municipalities in 2009. The programme is essentially an employment safety net employing 2 200 people in Bushbuckridge within four sectors of community work, these being food security, palliative care, community infrastructure refurbishment and teacher…
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Published in Community Work Programme
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Friday, 18 November 2011

Mediating from the margins: The role of intermediaries in facilitating participation in formal markets by poor producers and users

  • Year 2011
  • Organisation TIPS
  • Author(s) Marlese von Broembsen
  • Countries and Regions South Africa
Patrick Sathorar acts as a marketing consultant for a group of 25-30 HIV-positive women in Nyanga, Cape Town. They produce textile and beaded products and Patrick facilitates their participation in the formal market by sourcing and negotiating contracts for them. Patrick’s role comprises the following: first, he meets with a…
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Published in Second Economy Strategy Project
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Tuesday, 15 November 2011

Linking small marginalised producers to modern markets: Are we trying to fit a square peg in a round hole?

  • Year 2011
  • Organisation TIPS
  • Author(s) Sandy Lowitt
  • Countries and Regions South Africa
Improving small, marginalised producers access to modern markets has increasingly been accepted as an important element in South African policy debates on improving the employment, income and livelihood opportunities for such producers. The importance of market access arises because in the absence of such access, these producers are restricted to…
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Published in Second Economy Strategy Project
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Monday, 14 November 2011

A qualitative evaluation of the Community Work Programme - Umthwalume CWP October 2011 by Thutong Training and Development

  • Year 2011
  • Organisation Thutong Training and Development
  • Countries and Regions South Africa
The findings clearly answer the question of how beneficiaries have been impacted by CWP. The findings show that the beneficiaries are pleased with the quality of services that are provided through the CWP programme such as home based care, cleaning of cre?ches and teachers assistants etc. It becomes evident that…
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Published in Community Work Programme
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Wednesday, 09 November 2011

Studying the impact of the Community Work Programme on its participants , Matric geography project 2011 Bohlahela CWP

  • Year 2011
  • Author(s) Megan Cochrane
  • Countries and Regions South Africa
Aim: The Community Work Programme (CWP) is an initiative of the State President's office which is designed to create an employment safety net in rural areas. The aim of this investigation is to study whether or not the CWP has made a positive impact on the lives of its participants…
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Tuesday, 01 November 2011

Identifying appropriate interventions to support the transition from schooling to the workplace

  • Year 2011
  • Organisation TIPS
  • Author(s) Miriam Altman (HSRC) ; Carmel Marock (Singizi Consulting)
  • Countries and Regions South Africa
Youth unemployment is extremely high in South Africa, approximately double the national rate. While this is not uncommon internationally, it poses a special problem in South Africa where at least half of young school leavers are unlikely to find work before the age of 24. In many other countries, the…
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Published in Second Economy Strategy Project
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Sunday, 21 August 2011

Asset inequality

  • Year 2011
  • Organisation TIPS
  • Author(s) Ebrahim-Khalil Hassen
The promise of asset-based approaches to poverty, as well as its limitations can be summarised with reference to the popular idiom: “teach a person to fish, rather than giving him a fish”. If the idiom were a development programme or project, it would aim to undertake two interventions (i.e. 1.…
Published in Second Economy Strategy Project
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Friday, 15 July 2011

Inequality and economic marginalisation: How the structure of the economy impacts on opportunities on the margins

  • Year 2011
  • Organisation TIPS
  • Author(s) Kate Philip
  • Countries and Regions South Africa
In the face of a long-standing unemployment crisis that increasingly threatens social and economic stability, employment has at last taken centre stage in South African policy, and with this, focus is shifting to the structural constraints on employment creation within the economy. The New Growth Path, approved by Cabinet in…
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Published in Community Work Programme
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Wednesday, 01 June 2011

Strategies to support South African smallholders as a contribution to government’s second economy strategy - Volume 2: Case studies

  • Year 2011
  • Organisation PLAAS
  • Author(s) Michael Aliber
  • Countries and Regions South Africa
This case study provides a comparative analysis of two different initiatives designed to promote the smallholder sector in metropolitan Cape Town. The City of Cape Town has developed an urban agriculture policy and initiated a joint venture between itself, the Provincial Department of Agriculture and private sector partners to put…
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Published in Second Economy Strategy Project
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Tuesday, 25 January 2011

Towards a Right to Work: The Rationale for an Employment Guarantee in South Africa

  • Year 2011
  • Organisation TIPS
  • Author(s) Kate Philip
  • Countries and Regions India, South Africa
What if unemployed people in South Africa had a right – a real right – to a minimum level of regular work on decent terms? In 2005, India passed a law guaranteeing rural households up to 100 days of work per annum, at minimum wage rates. Over 55 million households…
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Published in Community Work Programme
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Thursday, 09 December 2010

Towards a Right to Work: The Rationale for an Employment Guarantee in South Africa

  • Year 2010
  • Organisation TIPS
  • Author(s) Kate Philip
  • Countries and Regions India, South Africa
What if unemployed people in South Africa had a right – a real right – to a minimum level of regular work, on decent terms?   In 2005, India passed a law guaranteeing rural households up to 100 days of work per annum, at minimum wage rates. Over 55 million…
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Published in Community Work Programme
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Thursday, 23 September 2010

Mitigating a Jobs Crisis: Innovations in Public Employment Programmes (IPEP)

  • Year 2010
  • Organisation International Labour Office - Geneva
  • Author(s) Maikel Lieuw-Kie-Song; Kate Philip
Description Unemployment and other employment-related problems do not occur only in times of crisis. As observed by the ILO, there was a Jobs Crisis before the financial crisis, a structural unemployment problem as a result of jobless growth in many areas of the world. Investment in infrastructure development can play an…
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Thursday, 23 September 2010

Inequalities in Emerging Economies: What role for Labour Market and Social Policies?

  • Year 2010
  • Organisation TIPS
  • Author(s) Kate Philip
  • Countries and Regions South Africa
The OECD held a one-day workshop in Paris in May 2010 to present the findings of a series of papers commissioned on this topic from Brazil, India, China and South Africa. Kate Philip was there. For South Africans attending the OECD conference, watching the comparative slides on global trends flashing…
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Published in Community Work Programme
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Friday, 18 December 2009

Clothing traders in Gauteng: Motivations, barriers and macroeconomic linkages

  • Year 2009
  • Organisation TIPS
  • Author(s) The Corporate Strategy and Industrial Development Research Programme (CSID); School of Economics and Business Sciences, University of Witwatersrand
  • Countries and Regions South Africa
Street trading is the most common type of informal self-employment activity in South Africa. Traders sell a range of products such as fruits and vegetables, cooked food, new and used clothing, cosmetics, footwear, dvds, “public” telephone services and mobile phone accessories. Most traders operate from stalls or tables in market…
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Published in Second Economy Strategy Project
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Monday, 01 June 2009

Review of the Eastern Cape’s Siyakhula/Massive maize project

  • Year 2009
  • Organisation TIPS
  • Author(s) Norma Tregurtha
  • Countries and Regions South Africa
Agriculture plays a unique and multifaceted role in the South African economy. While it contributes less than three percent to the country’s GDP, it provides almost 10 percent of the country’s formal sector employment. The sector has, according to all measures, relatively large linkage effects with the rest of the…
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