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The concept of what a per diem is and who should receive one is a complex idea that, within the development context, can either support or hinder the achievement of development projects’ goals. This paper seeks to explain the evolving nature of per diems and their use within the development context; explore how they serve as barriers or enablers in achieving project goals; and touch on their impact on the development project cycle. Through a 3-year-long internationally funded development programme in Malawi and South Africa, the authors compare lessons drawn from their experience with existing literature to determine the practicalities of paying per diems and address the question: To what extent do per diems support or hinder international development projects? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schooling outcomes in South Africa are characterised by significant inequalities on the basis of race and socio-economic status. This paper reports on findings from a unique panel dataset that follows individuals who participated in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study in 2002 as Grade 8 students through to their secondary school-leaving examination (known as ‘matric’) in Grade 12. The paper investigates the extent to which secondary schools differ in converting Grade 8 achievement into matric outcomes. Achievement in Grade 8 is strongly predictive of survival to matric, passing matric and performance in matric. Many students had extremely weak mathematical proficiency in Grade 8 and yet decided to take matric mathematics, only to fail the subject. Increasing the number of matric mathematics passes is a strong policy imperative. Our analysis suggests that the way to achieve this is to improve mathematics learning at earlier stages of the school programme rather than through indiscriminate mathematics participation in matric. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper contributes to the debate on the role played by the political crisis in Zimbabwe in causing teacher migration to South Africa in the presence of other social and economic drivers. The paper uses data collected through a questionnaire self-administered by 100 Zimbabwean teachers in South Africa (migrants) and another 100 in Zimbabwe (non-migrants). In-depth interviews with a few migrant teachers were used to supplement these data. Although it was the second most mentioned reason for the teachers' migration to South Africa, the role played by political violence or repression in Zimbabwe in causing this migration should not be downplayed. Most migrant teachers came from Zimbabwean schools affected by political violence to a large extent before or after the 2008 presidential elections, especially rural areas. Teachers that held positions or distributed opposition party regalia were mostly displaced by violence. There is an urgent need for political transformation to more democratic rule in Zimbabwe. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The concept of the ‘polycentric urban region’ has been popularised both as a theoretical concept for understanding regional urban systems in an era of reduced transport and communication costs, and as a normative policy objective in its own right. This paper explores its relevance to the rapidly urbanising Cape Town city-region. First, empirical evidence for the emergence of polycentric regional development patterns was considered. Shifts in relative settlements sizes (morphological polycentrism) over the period 1991–2011 were examined using population data, and patterns of inter-settlement interactions (functional polycentrism) were explored by analysing commuting information. Contrary to expectations, trends toward polycentric development were found to be weak. Second, the paper considers the relevance and value of polycentric development thinking for regional economic and spatial planning policy, concluding that there are insufficient grounds for policy intervention aimed at encouraging polycentric regional development or countering the dominance of Cape Town in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper aims to determine the degree to which class and socio-economic background influence a child's life chances and their future perspectives. We build on the growing number of papers that deal with the concept of inequality of opportunity. Comparing children from lower and upper middle-class households we find significant differences in terms of access to basic education, sanitation, clean water and mobility. Our multivariate analysis highlights the importance of class membership for schooling outcomes and labour market prospects of a child. The single most important variable to explain schooling outcomes is mother's education. While income seems to be less important for younger ages, it becomes increasingly important for the chances of reaching matric and obtaining tertiary education. The results are robust for various models and panel data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing empirical research on consumption patterns of the South African black middle class leans either on the theory of conspicuous consumption or culture-specific utility functions. This paper departs from treatment of the black middle class as a homogeneous group. By differentiating between a securely established group, with characteristics and consumption patterns similar to the white middle class, and an emerging group, often with weaker productive characteristics, the paper formally introduces economic vulnerability as a driver of consumption patterns. Households new to the middle class or uncertain of continued class membership are viewed as vulnerable. Consumption patterns of the emerging black middle class are observed to diverge substantially from the other groups, in terms of greater signalling of social status via visible consumption and preoccupation with reducing an historical asset deficit. We expect many of its members to join the established classes over time, converging to a new ‘middle class mean’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates household dissolution and changes in asset wealth (socio-economic position) in a rural South African community containing settled refugees. Survival analysis applied to a longitudinal dataset indicated that the covariates increasing the risk of forced household dissolution were a reduction in socio-economic position (asset wealth), adult deaths and the permanent outmigration of more than 40% of the household. Conversely, the risk of dissolution was reduced by bigger households, state grants and older household heads. Significant spatial clusters of former refugee villages also showed a higher risk of dissolution after 20 years of permanent residence. A discussion of the dynamics of dissolution showed how an outflow/inflow of household assets (socio-economic position) was precipitated by each of the selected covariates. The paper shows how an understanding of the dynamics of forced household dissolution, combined with the use of geo-spatial mapping, can inform inter-disciplinary policy in a rural community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a comparative assessment of South Africa and India's service delivery improvement strategies, challenges, successes and lessons learnt in advancing their service delivery reform programmes. The cardinal argument in the paper is that the public administrative systems adopted and inherited in the post-democratic epochs in India and South Africa were incapable of meeting the service delivery needs of their respective citizens. They epitomised the traditional and hierarchical public administrative systems that were the object of reforms in the 1990s. The reform initiatives also coincided with global reforms on public administration systems taking place under the aegis of the new public management framework. A key feature of new public management is its application of private-sector ideas to the public sector, such as individual accountability. The paper further undertakes a comparative review of service delivery improvement frameworks of South Africa (Batho Pele) and India (Sevottam) in relation to their objectives and implementation modalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modelling approaches are utilised to understand complex and dynamic issues, which are characteristic of the South Africa power sector, especially since the sector has been at the centre of green economy debates. This paper thus draws on a system dynamics approach that captures and represents the dynamic behaviour of transforming the power sector with a green economy framework. This was done utilising the South Africa Green Economy Model and investigating whether current policies and strategies can improve economic growth, while at the same time reducing the impact on the environment and providing more employment. In general, the paper shows that green economy investments in the power sector provide opportunities for achieving the diversification of the energy mix, job creation, as well as CO2eqemissions reduction. However, more aggressive investments are necessary if all of the targets, as laid out in the National Development Plan, are to be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the fact that the South African economy is highly diversified, the sustainability of its economic growth depends on the availability of two critical resources: water and energy. The national energy grid is mostly based on coal combustion, with very few viable alternative resources. Large amounts of water are needed to produce energy from coal and, in most places where coal reserves are located, there is evidence of water scarcity. The sustainable management of both sectors is essential, since research has shown that access to potable water and energy will lead to a better quality of life for people and help alleviate poverty. This paper will focus on the interlinkages and understanding of the trade-offs between water and energy and its implications for sustainable development in South Africa. The simultaneous implementation of selected Sustainable Development Goals targets could help reduce the trade-off between the two sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimated the relationship between employment and depression, hypertension, diabetes and tuberculosis in South Africa between 2008 and 2014. South Africa has high levels of economic inactivity and unemployment as well as a high disease burden occasioned by depression, other non-communicable diseases and tuberculosis. Data came from the National Income Dynamics Study panel dataset. Using fixed effects, random effects and pooled ordinary least squares regressions, depression and diabetes were associated with a 4-6 percentage point decline in employment probability, while tuberculosis was associated with a 12-13 percentage point employment decline. The results suggested that the employment-health relationship possibly operated through illness being associated with increased economic inactivity, rather than through making the search efforts of the unemployed unsuccessful. Moreover, the employment-health relationship not only existed contemporaneously, but extended into the future (especially for the physical health indicators). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the relationship between housing as an asset and the accumulation of other assets. Using data from a longitudinal research project stretching over nearly 25 years, we have found that besides actual income, there have also been improvements in self-perceived wealth ranking, asset holding, housing size, infrastructure access and human capital. Not all households have however benefited or been found to be better off. We have found that those households who had settled in Freedom Square after 1994 were indeed better off than the earlier settlers. Asset building is a slow process, one driven by stability (accessing urban land and secure tenure), finding an address, accessing education and finding work or remaining employed (though not necessarily in this particular sequence). Contrary to what the Department of Human Settlements suggests, we have found little evidence that informal settlement dwellers build assets by means of the secondary housing market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The South African wheat industry has been under pressure in recent years from global economic instability and a fast-changing domestic policy environment. This has manifested itself in declining wheat production and profitability at the farm level. Wheat quality plays a key role in wheat buying decisions, with quality improvements correlating negatively with yield and, ultimately, productivity. Yet any new wheat cultivar released for commercial production must still meet the standards of the country's wheat classification system, which has led to wheat sometimes being imported in the face of a domestic shortfall. This situation has inevitably led to tension within the industry and affected both performance and pricing. Using various data sources and a dynamic linear programming (DLP) approach, this paper takes an in-depth look at the link between wheat quality and yield, with a view to determining the impact of wheat quality standards (ceteris paribus) on the profitability of South African wheat producers. Results indicated that were these classification discrepancies removed, the country-wide effect on net farm income is estimated to range between ZAR606 million and ZAR920 million per annum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Violence, and particularly gender-based violence (GBV), has become an increasingly serious problem in the democratic era in South Africa. While numerous suggestions have been offered for why this is the case, a growing body of literature links the perpetration of violence and GBV to the expectations of men's prescribed gender roles, or their masculinities. In response to this, some organisations have begun working specifically with men as a violence prevention mechanism, through the use of masculinitiesfocused interventions. This paper uses a South African example as a case study, looking primarily at how men who participate in the intervention understand masculinities and violence, and the impact that the intervention has on this understanding. Results suggest that violence has become largely normalised in the country, but that the intervention can play a role in beginning to problematise that normalisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is no reliable data on the extent of South African skilled emigration and return migration. Statistics South Africa stopped collecting emigration data more than a decade ago. This paper provides data from the turn of the century collected in the countries to which South Africans emigrate. It first provides detailed data on emigration to the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States - the main destinations for emigrants from South Africa. It then provides estimates for the United Arab Emirates. Finally, it presents data for twenty-five other OECD countries. By contrast with widespread claims that there has been a very large brain gain as South Africans have returned following the global financial crisis, it shows that there was still a net brain drain, albeit at a slower pace. The most recent data suggest that the rate of emigration may be accelerating again. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is agreed that agriculture provides avenues for impoverished households to produce and trade their way out of poverty. However, this requires market access and value chain integration of small-scale farmers. This paper explores the possibilities for integration of small-scale farmers into the mainstream commercial broiler value chain in South Africa. Production costs of small-scale producers are evaluated within the context of their commercial counterparts, with a case study approach. It revealed that smallscale producers pay more for inputs but also receive a substantial premium for sales of live birds in the informal market. This results in attractive gross margins for small-scale producers. There is, however, a production ceiling, due to demand and production considerations, associated with small-scale broiler production. This ultimately results in a dualistic industry with an informal (live sale) value chain at the one end of the spectrum and a sophisticated large-scale commercial value chain at the other. Given the salient production features and investment requirements associated with large-scale broiler production, organic growth from the small-scale value chain into the commercial value chain seems improbable. The dual nature of this industry should therefore be considered when developing policy geared towards development, poverty alleviation and value chain integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the significance of public expenditure management for primary education outcomes in public schools in two South African provinces (Gauteng and North West). Using cross-sectional data from 175 public primary schools and 13 local education offices, the analysis finds that while misappropriation of education funds (leakages) is not strongly associated with poor education outcomes, delays on the part of the government in disbursing funds to schools are correlated with Grade 5 dropout rates. The paper finds no evidence that public expenditure and total resource wealth (including public and private contributions) are significantly associated with education outcomes. Increased spending on learning and teaching support materials is associated strongly with lower Grade 1 and Grade 7 repetition rates. The paper also finds that repetition rates are driven strongly by poverty indicators at the district level, while dropout rates are driven strongly by district and school inefficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poverty alleviation remains a pressing concern for South African policy-makers. Implementing effective anti-poverty policies requires a clear understanding of the nature and extent of poverty. The extant literature on South African poverty dynamics shows a decline in the headcount ratio over the first decade of the twenty-first century. However, the prior research largely adopts a narrow money-metric approach, or uses multi-dimensional indices that include welfare indicators based on private assets (e.g. television sets) or those that are provided publicly (e.g. access to water). This paper uses multiple correspondence analysis to measure non-income poverty trends for the period 2005–12. The novelty in this undertaking lies in an attempt to include a measure of the perceived quality of public assets and services to complement the standard indices. This provides some measure of ‘success’ of public service delivery, accounting for both changes in access and quality. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

International development projects that support entrepreneurship face a number of challenges, not least because they need to integrate different paradigms. Based on the case study of a Canadian non-governmental organisation in South Africa, this paper provides an exploratory assessment of these challenges and highlights four major factors that affect the success of such international projects: transposing a northern business model to the south; developing local roots and adapting to the local context; balancing the allocation of resources between managing the project and providing services to entrepreneurs; and aligning the cultures of the private sector and international development agencies. In practical terms, the findings provide benchmarks for the success of these projects and could help improve interventions that encourage entrepreneurship in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Many women interact with the South African social security system in relation to the Child Support Grant (CSG), which is social assistance payable for children living with low-income caregivers. This paper explores women's accounts of how the CSG serves to protect and respect dignity, a foundational value in the South African Constitution. Drawing from focus groups and in-depth interviews with female CSG recipients of working age, it is argued that whilst the experience of using the CSG does protect dignity in certain important respects, other aspects including the application process, the small amount of the grant and negative discourses associated with the status of being a CSG recipient were experienced by many as erosive of dignity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper responds to the paucity of research on the linkages between voluntourism and digital technology and seeks to understand the online representation of the phenomenon in a developing context. In particular, the researchers investigate the so-called ‘online domain’ of voluntourism in South Africa. The researchers collected a series of web results from search engines and analysed the presence of traditional and social media websites, the most relevant presented topics, and the type of argumentation found. Results identify the context and representation of voluntourism as it transpires virtually. This will contribute to the understanding of the interplay between voluntourism and digital technology, with specific emphasis on web presence. Ultimately, results will shed light on how digitally accessible voluntourism is in South Africa and will set the basis for future investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Poverty, despite being a multifaceted concept, is commonly measured in either absolute or relative monetary terms. However, it can also be measured subjectively, as people form perceptions on their relative income, welfare and life satisfaction. This is the first study that uses the National Income Dynamics Study data to analyse poverty across various objective and subjective methods. The paper finds that while respondents' poverty status varies across methods, blacks remain the racial group most likely to be defined as poor by at least one method. The multivariate analysis reveals that the impact of some explanatory variables, such as experience of negative events, frequency of crime victimisation, health status and importance of religious activities, is mixed across methods. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper provides evidence about socioeconomic inequity in inpatient healthcare utilisation in South Africa after 10 years of reform after Apartheid, and examines which are the contributing determinants. We use the South African sample of the World Health Survey from 2002–03 and estimate horizontal inequity in inpatient healthcare utilisation using the concentration index. We further decompose inequity in inpatient care to explore the contribution of the different determinants of use. We find that inpatient healthcare utilisation is found to be pro-rich distributed in South Africa. The rich are more likely to use inpatient healthcare than the poor, given the same level of need. In addition, race is found to be the most important contributor (42%) to socioeconomic inequity in inpatient healthcare utilisation in South Africa. Gender, education and the consumption level are also found to be important contributors, but to a lesser degree than race. Our findings provide evidence that socioeconomic inequity in inpatient healthcare utilisation still exists in post-Apartheid South Africa and that policies, regulations and research should contribute to a more equitable utilisation. The implementation of National Health Insurance could help to reduce the major problems and large (socioeconomic and racial) inequalities of the South African healthcare system. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Urbanisation is an important but contested process because of its far-reaching social, economic and environmental implications. The paper explores the relationship between urbanisation and living conditions in South Africa over the last decade. The central question addressed is whether population growth in the main cities has been accompanied by improved living standards, housing and public services. One finding is that employment growth has tended to coincide with demographic trends, which is necessary to reduce poverty. In addition, the provision of urban infrastructure has outstripped population growth, resulting in better access to essential services and reduced backlogs. In contrast, the provision of affordable housing has not kept pace with household growth, so more people than ever are living in shacks. A more comprehensive assessment is required before one can be sure that urbanisation is on a sustainable trajectory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Green Fund is a national fund aimed at supporting South Africa's transition towards a green economy. The Fund, managed by the Development Bank of Southern Africa on behalf of the Department of Environmental Affairs, is a three-year programme promoting innovative and high-impact green interventions. The Green Fund is mandated to provide catalytic finance to project initiation and development; policy and research development; and capacity-building initiatives that have the potential to support South Africa's transition to a green economy. This paper provides insights into the establishment of the Green Fund and draws out lessons for the development and growth of environmental finance capabilities in southern Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The South African solar resource is vast. By utilising this resource effectively, concentrating solar power (CSP) offers the ability to efficiently store thermal energy until needed for electricity generation. This technology can therefore assist the total electricity system to link demand and supply. Nevertheless, CSP is still entering the commercialisation phase and, as the learning rate sets in, the cost is expected to decrease significantly; thus providing a dispatchable renewable energy option that is competitive with conventional options. A major dilemma needs to be overcome. Until sufficient CSP capacity is installed each year, the localisation potential, and the overall economic benefit for the country, will not materialise. This in turn could stall the technology. This paper presents a techno-economic scenario to show that a CSP industry can be established now that exceeds the threshold for setting up economies of scale, reduces the cost of electricity, and increases energy security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]