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Migration to South Africa is motivated by the pursuit of employment, safety, and improved living conditions. However, immigrants encounter significant challenges, such as restricted access to essential services, which were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Malawian immigrants in South Africa, addressing the lack of attention given to this immigrant population by highlighting their vulnerabilities. Using a qualitative exploratory and descriptive approach, in-depth interviews were conducted with 24 Malawi immigrants who were over 18 years old and had established residency in South Africa before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Five key stakeholders were also interviewed for additional perspectives and to ensure triangulation and improve data reliability. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using thematic analysis strategies and coding with Nvivo12 software. The study highlighted the exacerbated struggles of Malawian immigrants in South Africa amid the COVID-19 pandemic, uncovering systemic discrimination in healthcare, marked by longer wait times and reluctance from health workers to treat undocumented immigrants. The study also revealed a dire security situation, with immigrants living in high-crime areas and feeling particularly targeted due to their foreign status, a situation worsened by the pandemic's economic effects. Additionally, the economic downturn induced by COVID-19 significantly impacted employment opportunities, with many immigrants facing prolonged unemployment and job losses, especially in sectors where they traditionally found work. The detailed accounts of participants highlight not only the multifaceted challenges imposed by the pandemic but also the critical need for inclusive policies and support systems that ensure healthcare access, safety, and economic resilience for immigrants, particularly during global health emergencies. Future research should focus on effective interventions for socioeconomic integration and well-being, particularly for immigrants from other African countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper seeks to examine the key reasons behind the recent violent community protests in South Africa. It analyses the challenges the political elites would have to navigate in order to address the concerns of the people and the impact such protests would have on peace, stability, and governance on the African continent. Suffice it to note that political and community-based protests have been a common occurrence in South Africa since the advent of democracy in the country in 1994. Though the nomenclature and manifestation of such protests have been a subject of great debate, their frequent reoccurrence is a cause for concern for many in South Africa and, to a greater extent, the continent. The magnitude and scale of the July 2021 protests in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, precipitated by the incarceration of the former president Jacob Zuma, raises key fundamental concerns. First was the spontaneity in the manner in which the riots were undertaken; second was the scale and magnitude of destruction the two provinces experienced. This calls into question whether the protests were planned or genuine concerns arising from the incarceration of a political leader? While the incarceration of the former president was the trigger, there is evidence that the protests were inspired by unmet promises and the limited capacity of the country to deliver on people's hopes and aspirations. However, Hough (2008), Tsheola (2012), and Nyamnjoh (2018) have argued that the root causes of violent protests in post-apartheid South Africa are not so much the unmet promises to address poverty and unemployment but rather people's experiences of inequality and relative deprivation. In other words, people are dissatisfied when they compare their own quality of life and their economic and social opportunities with those of better-off communities and households. Fundamentally, therefore, one of the reasons the country has experienced violent protests is not necessarily the fact that the people are poor, but rather that protesters consider themselves poor visà-vis better-off communities. Evidently, the paper attempts to clarify some of the key issues political elites need to look out for as they put in place measures to avoid the re-occurrence of such protests and provides challenges the country would have to overcome in order to address people's grievances. Fundamentally, what lessons can the African continent learn from these protests? What measures should the African Union, together with its member states, adopt in order to ensure that people's genuine grievances are addressed in a timely and expeditious manner. The paper concludes by suggesting that a careful reassessment of local governance structures in South Africa would have to be contemplated with an emphasis on accountability and strict measures to sanction recalcitrant councilors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patients with chronic diseases (PWCDs) were severely affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, as they were prevented from making the necessary visits to health facilities for medical review and to collect their medication. The emergence of the health crisis and inadequate access to quality care affected chronic care management. The perspectives of PWCDs are not known, and therefore the research on which this paper is based sought to investigate the lived experiences of these patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A qualitative phenomenological design was used to obtain the lived experiences of PWCDs identified for participation in the study by means of purposive sampling. Patients' experiences were obtained during individual structured interviews, and a checklist was used to gather patient characteristics from their files. Results: Three themes emerged from the study findings, namely poor healthcare services, the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic had devastating effects on PWCDs, in that they experienced barriers to accessing quality chronic care services and suffered psychological and financial difficulties that affected their health, life, needs and expectations. Conclusion: Policymakers should consider PWCDs when responding to a public health concern in the future. Contribution: The study findings may have an impact on future policies regulating the management of chronic diseases during epidemics, in order to improve patient health outcomes and satisfaction with healthcare services and the chronic care model based on the experiences of PWCDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reducing the gender gap in poverty remains a priority for South African policymakers. Using the 2018 General Households Survey (GHS), this paper examines gendered multidimensional poverty in post-apartheid South Africa. The analyses draw on Alkire-Foster multidimensional poverty methodology to present multidimensional poverty measures for men and women. The dimensions and indicators used in this paper are slightly adapted to reflect the socioeconomic realities and circumstances that are unique to South African households and individuals. The results show a persistence in multidimensional poverty among women, as the magnitudes of multidimensional poverty measures remain higher for women than for men. Further findings show that the economic activity and health dimensions contribute substantially to poverty among men and women. Notably, contributions of unemployment and the presence of chronic disease(s) indicators for gendered multidimensional poverty are more considerable for women than for men. In order to further reduce gendered poverty, this paper recommends strengthening a social policy review that strongly promotes more job creation, health-enhancing interventions and potent 'gender sensitive' ideologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the level of unemployment rate in South African among the young, the paper seeks to assess the adoption of entrepreneurship education as a strategic approach to curb youth unemployment within a District Municipality public high schools in KwaZulu-Natal South Afrrica. The target population was 489 principals from high schools within the within the District Municipality. A mixed methods approach was used and a questionnaire was constructed and administered to participants via online platform. Also, an online one on one interviews were conducted with principals. All data was analysed using SPSS version 25 that generate data into table and bar graphs. The paper revealed that they are many challenges with the adoption of entrepreneurship and these challenges include financial challenge, lack of entrepreneurship education in public schools and lack of support. Small Enterprise Finance Agency (SEFA), National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) and National Empowerment Fund (NEF) should run more awareness campaigns on media platforms used by students and the youth to promote entrepreneurship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graduate unemployment is one of the major socio-economic development problems in South Africa and many other developing countries. Previous research has described various factors causing graduate unemployment, one of which is a lack of relevant work experience. Internships are increasingly supported to address this problem. However, internships have been criticised for being exploitative, illegal, and unjust. This paper seeks to present a new perspective on internships. It seeks to examine the perspectives on the impact of stipend level on graduate intern work productivity. Thus, the objectives of this study are to: explore the impact of stipend level on the work productivity of graduate interns; explore the exploitative nature of internship as perceived by participants; and explore the concerns of graduate interns over compensation. This study is qualitative and exploratory in nature. Fifty semi-structured interviews were conducted with interns, mentors, and HR managers at eThekwini municipality, Durban, South Africa, to address these research objectives. Data from interviews was analysed through thematic analysis. The results indicate that there is a relationship between the level of stipend earned by interns and their work productivity. This study found that low pay is associated with low work productivity. Therefore, work compensation is the primary motivator of productivity, not only for full-time employees but also for graduate interns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The government of South Africa does not have an economic development model that seeks to address poverty. Economic policies are not specifically developed to create employment opportunities but the main focus is on public service delivery. Job creation is not the primary objective of economic policies. This paper, therefore, focuses on the government's failures to develop a job creation model in South Africa that directly focus on job creation. Subsequently, job creation can be made possible if the economy of the country is well-balanced. The lack of political will and the leadership deficiencies in the country has contributed to the failure of the government to develop a job creation model. The study applied secondary research methodology and reached conclusions based on the existing data. The study found that a lot can be done if there is a political will to resolve the poverty and unemployment challenges. The study recommends that the leadership must be changed especially complacent leadership and replace them with visionary leaders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The South African street food industry is essential in elevating the socioeconomic standing of sellers. However, most studies on street food vending focused on perception, safety, consumption, and handling of street food. Therefore, it is necessary to fill this gap. The study explores street food vending contribution on poverty and unemployment in the Mahikeng Local Municipality. The study's goal was accomplished by using a mixed research methodology. A sample size of 401 respondents were selected for the study and data was obtained using structured, semi-structured and unstructured questionnaires. The study found that street food vending creates jobs not only for the people involved in the trade, but also for people who would otherwise be unemployed, for example, those who are retrenched. In addition, street food distribution has become a cornerstone for vendors to generate income to supplement family income that improved the standard of living of the vendors. Additionally, some vendors were able to acquire assets such as livestock and landed property from the profit made from the business, contributing to reducing poverty incidence among traders in the area. The paper concludes that street food vending has contributed in creating jobs thus, reducing poverty incidence. However, the street food industry continues to confront obstacles such as lack of cash and credit and location-based business restrictions. Therefore, in order for SFV to be effective, steps must be taken to minimise the difficulties affecting the industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This conceptual paper studies the relationship between unemployment and migration in some parts of Southern African Development Communities. The majority of the population that migrates are unemployed and want to improve their living standards and that of their family members. Human mobility is then regarded as means of improving the allocation of human resources. There are several characteristics that may encourage human mobility in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) but unemployment seems to be topping the list. Unemployment is one of the Push factors of human mobility; consequently, it is crucial to understand the relationship between the two. They are attached and this is another reason the global village will continually experience cross border movements. Occasionally, immigrants leave their place of residents because of the high unemployment rate and lack of economic growth. Family members of the unemployed household heads are also likely to migrate in search of greener pastures and better their lives and that of their siblings and dependents. The economic disparities between countries have a very strong influence in cross border movements and the deepening and widening inequality in incomes and opportunities within nations. The other contributing aspect which add pressure for people to cross the border is the increase in the number of people enduring poverty and extreme hardship. Cross border movement is also shaped by the location of employment and other opportunities. Consequently, the paper is conceptual as it relied on available literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper interrogates gaps in the implementing community work programmes in South Africa using the case of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) and Community Work Programmes (CWP). The EPWP and CWPs were adopted by government as strategies aimed at uprooting poverty and unemployment in South Africa. The intention was to respond to high levels of poverty and structural unemployment compounded by gross inequity which renders South Africa the most unequal society in the world. South Africa is characterised by inequality, poverty and unemployment, and this has created an uneven allocation of resources to society at large. The interface of poverty, unemployment and inequality undermines South Africa's policies to become a developmental state. This paper argues that the legacy of apartheid and the adoption of neo-liberal policies in the post-apartheid era has not only contributed to socio-economic exclusion and marginalisation, but also relegate the poor and disadvantaged people into the deprivation trap. The paper evaluates the potential and challenges faced by EPWP, and the CWP to address the twin problems of poverty and unemployment in the country. Authors of this paper adopted a qualitative research approach to review literature from various sources such as books, articles from accredited journals and online credible publications. To respond to the aim, this paper argues that, although community-based work programmes such as the Expanded Public Works Programme and Community Work do not sustain employment opportunities in South Africa, they provide short-term safety nets for the unemployed, semi-skilled and unskilled citizens. Findings from this study revealed that community development work is not successful in achieving all the goals that are directly linked to poverty alleviation at programme level. Challenges found to be stifling the effective implementation of community work programmes included the implementation of the programmes at small scale, lack of active participation by unemployed and host communities, poor coordination and inadequate adequate infrastructure and resources to run the programmes effectively as we as well limited access to resources, assets and skills that can be jointly used to sustain the economy. The paper recommends the adoption of pluralistic approach in promoting active participation among community work programmes' stakeholders. This a literature review paper hence secondary sources of data were used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Apartheid left in its wake a South Africa characterized by social inequalities that are embedded and reflected in all spheres of social life, including the higher education system. While the post-apartheid government has made efforts to transform the higher education system it inherited, the pace has been slow and has fallen significantly short of what many regard as modest expectations. This paper interrogates why transformation has remained elusive in the higher education sector in post-apartheid South Africa, particularly with regards to the institutional culture at historically white universities (HWUs). Focusing on the Rhodes Must Fall (RMF) campaign at the University of Cape Town (UCT), and Luister, a documentary film at the University of Stellenbosch, it employs critical race theory (CRT) as a conceptual framework and analytical tool. Using CRT identifies the centrality of racism in shaping the slow pace of transformation in general and concerning the institutional culture at HWUs in particular. The paper concludes by reflecting on the implications of this lack of transformation, particularly in a time where poverty is endemic and unemployment rampant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the introduction of democracy in 1994, South Africa was faced with significant issues that necessitated action to improve the levels of domestic and foreign direct investments required to accelerate economic growth. Moreover, the South African economy comprised a narrow range of exports and an over-dependence on primary production. These challenges hindered the growth within the country as well as the continent. The emergence of Special economic zones (SEZs) internationally as a policy to support industrial development targeted at incentivising economic and infrastructure development based on specific geographical areas and responding to the needs of a particular local area. This is especially useful when the government wants to extend incentives for particular activities outside designated zones. This paper is conceptual and seeks to make a critical analysis of the contribution of SEZ to the country's economy through the use of a literature review. The article further points out the extent to which jobs, foreign direct investments, and employment were triggered by SEZ use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By mid-2020, South Africa had shredded 2.2 million jobs, and less than 40% of these had been recuperated by the end of the last quarter. Resultantly, COVID-19 has threatened people's aptitude to afford themselves and their families a passable standard of living, thus relying on social protection. In South Africa, social protection has been a topical theme in recent years, given that the existing approach has proved unsuccessful in convincingly reducing poverty, inequality and unemployment. Using a desktop review, this paper examined South Africa's social protection regime and its impact during COVID-19. It further explored the applicability of a Universal Basic Income and Job Guarantee in South Africa. The findings revealed that, while COVID-19 social security interventions may be considered sizeable, they have not been effective in offsetting the impact of poverty and unemployment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, the article provided policy intervention recommendations for social security post-COVID-19 in South Africa. Finally, as a caveat, given that the nature of the social policy discourse in South Africa is heavily shaped by political priorities and ideological preferences, whichever decision is adopted may likely depend on considerations of the abovementioned factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reality of unemployment in South Africa has become a buzz word for the social work profession in tandem with agendas for political parties in their manifestos in the country. For the doubters of political interpretations, the problem seems to have superficial political agendas yet professional analysts have also lamented to its dire bio-psychosocial consequences for the rural young women in South Africa. This paper exposes the bio-psychosocial implications of unemployment for the young women in Cassel in the Northern Cape Province in South Africa. The study employed a qualitative approach which purposely selected eleven unemployed young women between the ages of fifteen and thirty five to provide data saturation point and reveal the bio-psychosocial consequences of unemployment. Thematic data analysis was used which provided significant emergent themes for the study. The findings were that unemployed rural young women are prone to a host of bio-psychosocial problems including alcohol and drug addiction, commercial sex work and associated diseases, family disputes and resentment, homelessness and suicidal thoughts. Deliberate social work interventions have been found to be monumentally lacking yet overtly needed. The paper recommends various social work intervention strategies to help ameliorate the eminent bio-psychosocial problems facing young women in the rural areas of the North West Province. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores Black men's narratives of sex work in Cape Town. Sex work in South Africa takes place in a complex context of poverty and unemployment, which plays a part in men's entry into the profession. Much research on sex work has focused on female sex workers to the detriment of men who sell sex whose experiences are silenced. Narrative interviews were employed and the study investigated how Black men who sell sex position themselves and others and construct their identity within a workspace dominated by women. This paper is concerned with how men narrate about themselves, the language they employ to do so and its purpose. It is focused on the narratives that are told about the self and how these are co-constructed. It is additionally concerned with how men's talk constructs their experiences as intersectional. The analysis provides insight into how masculine identities are constructed in men's narratives about sex work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Adolescents are at increased risk of HIV infection compared to other age groups. There is an urgent need for strategic information that will inform programmes to reduce risk and vulnerability to HIV and reverse the pattern of increasing HIV infection as they transition to adulthood. This paper analysed trends and factors associated with HIV prevalence among adolescents in South Africa using the national HIV population-based household surveys conducted in 2008, 2012 and 2017. Methods: All three surveys used a multistage cross-sectional design. A trend analysis was conducted to assess the differences in HIV prevalence and covariates overtime using P-trend Chi-squared statistic. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to determine factors associated with HIV prevalence. Results: Overall there was a significant increase in HIV prevalence among adolescents aged 12–19 years from 3.0% (n = 2892) in 2008 to 3.2% (n = 4829) in 2012 and 4.1% (n = 3937) in 2017 (p = 0.031). The odds of being HIV positive among adolescents aged 12–19 years was significantly higher among females [AOR = 2.24; 95% CI (1.73–2.91); p < 0.001] than males, those residing in KwaZulu-Natal province [AOR = 2.01; 95% CI (1.-3.99); p = 0.027] than Northern Cape, and those who did not attend an educational institution and were unemployed [AOR = 2.66; 95% CI (1.91–3.67); p < 0.001] compared to those attending an educational institution. The odds were significantly lower among Whites [AOR = 0.29; 95% CI (0.09–0.93); p = 0.037], Coloureds [AOR = 0.21; 95% CI (0.11–0.37); p ≤ 0.001] and Indian/Asian [AOR = 0.08; 95% CI (0.02–0.34); p = 0.001] population groups than Black Africans. Conclusion: The observed increasing trend and gender disparities in HIV prevalence suggests an urgent need for age appropriate and gender specific HIV interventions tailored and targeted at identified drivers of HIV infection among adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This editorial introduces and frames the six papers of this special section. It begins by proposing that youth unemployment needs to be understood in relation to a range of patterns of "getting by" in the global south. We suggest that the many practices of work, including informal ones, discussed in the collection do not attest to a society in "need of development" but rather point towards the future of work, here and elsewhere. While taking transformations in capitalism seriously, we argue that renewed pressures on secure wage work may not lead to a precarity in quite the same way that it has been theorised in the global north. Instead, especially through a focus on youth and generation, we point to multiple experiential circumstances in which work and its futures are enacted. These pertain to time and value and to the importance of space in positioning actors in enabling or foreclosing opportunities for earning income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the ANC government's approach to welfare and, in particular, its de facto rejection of a Universal Basic Income Grant. In the first part of this essay we argue that the current welfare model in SA is underpinned by a naive conception of the South African economy as potentially fast-growing and labour absorbing across all skills types. In the second part of this essay, we consider the gendered character of welfare and of unemployment arguing that under current conditions young men are effectively excluded from social protection. We propose that this situation interrupts the transition to male adulthood and fuels violence against women and children. We conclude by proposing that a Universal Basic Income Grant is necessary under conditions of mass, structural unemployment and widespread 'waithood'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper interrogates the legacy of apartheid as a socio-economic and political system on the emerging democracy and citizenship in post-apartheid South Africa. Following the arrival of Europeans in the 17th century, South Africa was subjected to the Dutch and the British political administrations. The political conquest of South Africa by these nations left the indigenous peoples stripped of their dignity, land and political rights. As well as being deprived of their human right to exist, the indigenous people experienced brutal wars, social exclusion and economic marginalization. This paper argues that apartheid and the democratic system of governance both created binaries based on inclusion and exclusion, race and class, gender and ethnicity. The failure of the democratic government to address the structural and institutional challenges not only reinforced these binaries but also perpetuated democratic inequalities, pushing poverty and unemployment to high levels. This paper traces the legacy of apartheid's social implications on a nation branded on the concept of the rainbow nation. Economically, the adoption of neo-liberal policies has failed to yield the economic growth needed for South Africa to tackle poverty, unemployment, inequality and other social issues. Although democracy has been institutionalized through the Constitution of 1996 and other relevant legislation, the South African democracy is unable to address the socio-economic and political challenges. The data for this paper was elicited from discourse analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Critics argue that inflation targeting is not an appropriate monetary policy framework for developing countries. They maintain that developing countries are more susceptible to the negative effects of external shocks due to the uncertainty perceived by investors with respect to their political and economic stability. It is in this line that this paper assesses whether the 3%-6% inflation target is the optimal inflation target band in South Africa. To determine the optimal level of inflation target in South Africa, this paper follows the methodology developed by Ball and Mankiw (2002), which rests on the premise that there is a short run trade-off between inflation and unemployment. Ball and Mankiw (2002) show that there exists a level of unemployment that is consistent with stable inflation. The unemployment level that corresponds with a stable inflation is known as the non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment (NAIRU). Thus, this paper uses an expectations-augmented Phillips curve to estimate a time-varying NAIRU for South Africa from 1980 to 2015. We use the headline inflation rate and the official unemployment rate based on the narrow definition to evaluate the appropriateness of the current inflation target range. Quarterly data from 1980 to 2015 sourced from Quantec is used to this end. The results of the empirical analysis indicate that, if South Africa were to put in place an inflation target range based on the NAIRU, it would have to target an inflation rate that ranges from 1.4 to 11.5 percent. This range is different to the official inflation target of 3% to 6% adopted by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB). Furthermore, this paper finds that the Phillips curve is not vertical in South Africa, as actual inflation does not depend solely on inflation expectations. The policy implication of the findings of this paper is that the South African Reserve Bank should think about revising its current inflation target, as it is too narrow for an emerging economy. The current low range of inflation target could have a negative effect on output and unemployment in the country. This paper recommends that the SARB should rely on the realities of the South African economy rather than on external concerns when defining the range of inflation target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term 'amaphara', possibly derived from 'parasites', burst into South African public culture in the 2010s to refer to petty thieves addicted to a heroin-based drug locally called whoonga/nyaope. Drawing on ethnography and media sources to interrogate the rise of 'amaphara', this paper argues that South Africa's heroin epidemic magnifies the attention – criticism but also sympathy – directed toward marginalised black men who have few prospects for social mobility. It locates amaphara in the national context where drug policy is largely punitive and youth unemployment rates are painfully high, but gives particular attention to families' and communities' experiences with intimate crimes, especially petty thefts. It further shows that amaphara is a contested term: heroin users are brothers, sons and grandchildren and they gain most of their income not from crime but by undertaking useful piece work in communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing pool of evidence showing that cash transfers can promote livelihood activities. Yet there has been limited empirical studies that explore how financial support influences beneficiaries' decision-making in the construction and operation of livelihood activities in an urban context. This study presents findings from qualitative research conducted in a poor urban community in South Africa. Structuration theory provides an analytical tool to understand how cash transfers enable decision-making of beneficiaries in livelihood activities. The study finds that beneficiaries make different types of initial and ongoing decisions to improve their socio-economic condition. Among the contributions of this paper is that it counters the cynicism that is usually attached to cash transfers. The study's implications include the incorporation of both social and economic goals in the design of social protection policies as well as the need for greater recognition of the role of the informal economy in eradicating poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has resulted in an enormous dislocation of society especially in South Africa. The South African government has imposed a number of measures aimed at controlling the pandemic, chief being a nationwide lockdown. This has resulted in income loss for individuals and firms, with vulnerable populations (low earners, those in informal and precarious employment, etc.) more likely to be adversely affected through job losses and the resulting income loss. Income loss will likely result in reduced ability to access healthcare and a nutritious diet, thus adversely affecting health outcomes. Given the foregoing, we hypothesize that the economic dislocation caused by the coronavirus will disproportionately affect the health of the poor. Methods: Using the fifth wave of the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) dataset conducted in 2017 and the first wave of the NIDS-Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (NIDS-CRAM) dataset conducted in May/June 2020, this paper estimated income-related health inequalities in South Africa before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Health was a dichotomized self-assessed health measure, with fair and poor health categorized as "poor" health, while excellent, very good and good health were categorized as "better" health. Household per capita income was used as the ranking variable. Concentration curves and indices were used to depict the income-related health inequalities. Furthermore, we decomposed the COVID-19 era income-related health inequality in order to ascertain the significant predictors of such inequality. Results: The results indicate that poor health was pro-poor in the pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 periods, with the latter six times the value of the former. Being African (relative to white), per capita household income and household experience of hunger significantly predicted income-related health inequalities in the COVID-19 era (contributing 130%, 46% and 9% respectively to the inequalities), while being in paid employment had a nontrivial but statistically insignificant contribution (13%) to health inequality. Conclusions: Given the significance and magnitude of race, hunger, income and employment in determining socioeconomic inequalities in poor health, addressing racial disparities and hunger, income inequality and unemployment will likely mitigate income-related health inequalities in South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper sets out to investigate whether the four members of the common monetary area (CMA) regime experience similar inflation-unemployment dynamics as explained by the Phillips Curve phenomenon. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses a combination of seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) and Copula based marginal regression techniques to investigate existence of a common Phillips curve (PC) between members of the CMA. Model estimation was done using country specific annual time series data for inflation, unemployment and imports spanning from 1980 to 2014. Findings: We find evidence of contemporaneous correlation between the residuals of individual CMA PC equations and a statistically significant trade-off between inflation and unemployment for all CMA countries. Wald test results of cross-equation restrictions reveal a 9.94% chance of a common unemployment coefficient for CMA countries. Originality/value: Together, the results of the SUR and Gaussian Copula techniques provide mixed and inconclusive evidence to support the existence of a common PC among CMA member states. This study is the first of its kind in examining this phenomenon for currency board regimes like CMA, and one of the very few among emerging market economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The obsession with empirical work in South African criminology has led to a neglect of 'context' in the form of skimming over structural oppressions, such as racism, inequality, poverty and unemployment, as if they were not potently criminogenic societal factors. With regard to analysing so-called conventional crime, the aforementioned 'context' is an extremely important consideration in a country teeming with these structural oppressions. Contributions from both Critical Theory and Marxist-inspired criminology could correct this imbalance. Following the backdrop of such a discussion, this paper will examine the phenomenon of the prisonindustrial complex, both in the US and, more particularly, in the local setting. The argument will then conclude with a three-pronged assessment, namely 1) an evaluation of the debt which Marxist-inspired criminologists (Jeffery Reiman, Angela Davis and Richard Quinney) owe to the Frankfurt School, 2) an overview of the relevant ideas from Critical Theory, and, 3) the application of conflict criminology supplemented by scholarly work in the tradition of the Frankfurt School (represented by Habermas and Žižek) to South African conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-formal education and training (NFET) programmes in public and private centres in South Africa aim to meet the training needs of adults who have been deprived of formal education which would have fostered skills acquisition and access to employment earlier in their lives. The concern which informs this paper is that adults who face long-term unemployment due to a lack of marketable skills often remain unemployed after completing NFET programmes. The paper assesses the extent to which material and human resources have affected skills acquisition and graduate employment in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The results show that material and human resource challenges in most public and some private centres have led to gaps in skills training. Programmes focus too strongly on academic credits and certificates and not enough on employment as an end goal. The authors argue that the existence of suitable training materials and qualified trainers with practical experience and specific technical skills constitutes favourable conditions ('enabling environments') for graduate employment. Without improvement in material and human resources, adult trainees will continue to experience difficulties integrating into the labour market, and the cycle of poverty and social exclusion will remain unbroken. [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]

The growth of literature on multidimensional poverty measures generates an uncertainty about which dimensions best capture the extent of poverty. This paper applies multiple correspondence analysis in the context of multidimensional poverty in South Africa to identify statistically valid additional dimensions using National Income Dynamics Study data of 2012. The results confirm the argument that economic status (lack of employment) and financial commitment (over-indebtedness) can be regarded as important dimensions, as their occurrence constrains households from participating in the activities essential in modern society. It is therefore proposed that, in addition to health, education, and living standard dimensions, both economic status and financial commitments should be included in the framework for the South African multidimensional poverty analysis. A central contribution of this work is a proposal of a hybrid multidimensional measure which recommends a combination of both non-monetary and monetary indicators, in particular over-indebtedness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unemployment levels in South Africa have reached astronomical levels. This has spurred the government to fund entrepreneurship initiatives such as the Enterprise and Supplier Development programmes. Thus it is vital to enable and create entrepreneurial ecosystems that attract, cultivate, and sustain entrepreneurs. This paper explores how entrepreneurial firms use external actors for value creation in an entrepreneurial ecosystem through intermediaries. The focus is on how an intermediary organisation can facilitate value co-creation. The authors present the results and findings from a case study of the Oslo Cancer Cluster incubator in Norway, and relate these findings to ecosystems management and design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the quality of South Africa's local government public services. Using the country's eight Batho Pele Principles (White Paper on Transforming Public Service Delivery, 1997), as a monitoring and evaluation framework, it critically argues that the low quality of public services at local government level fuels public discontent and exacerbates the challenges of poverty, unemployment, inequality and poor service delivery. Furthermore, the disconnection between the local sphere of government and local citizens undermines the potential of this sphere to fulfill its constitutional, democratic and developmental mandates. Even the heavy dependence of people on local government as the sole provider of essential services (water, sanitation, housing, electricity etc.) is worrisome since local government lacks financial resources and is weak at recruiting skilled, knowledgeable and competent human resources. The paper relies on face-to- face interviews with academics and practitioners in local government and on secondary literature. It concludes that the failure of South Africa's local government to render sustainable basic services to its citizens emanates from the non-alignment of local economic development strategies to the strategic IDP within municipalities, cadre deployment, maladministration and mismanagement within local authorities including greed, corruption and a culture of self-enrichment among the officials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to new nationally representative, individual-level panel data from South Africa has allowed for the revalidation of Kingdon and Knight's discussion on the definition of unemployment. This paper investigates subjective well-being as a measure of comparison between labour-market statuses. It finds that on the grounds of subjective well-being the non-searching unemployed (or ‘discouraged’) are significantly worse-off than the not economically active. Moreover, evidence suggests that, with regard to the relationship between life satisfaction and labour-market status, the non-searching unemployed consistently are the worst-off. This is especially true of both the young and senior non-searching unemployed; however, the findings are largely driven by the African subsample. This paper does not advocate for a change in the official definition of unemployment but does advocate for the inclusion and recognition of the non-searching unemployed in policy relating to labour and development in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

South Africa is characterised by extremely high unemployment, at a level that has the potential to derail its future political stability. This paper explores constraints on the job creation capabilities of micro and small enterprises, specifically focusing on the consequences of existing institutional and regulatory frameworks, looking at a panel of firms within the manufacturing sector. This study revealed that most of the small firms interviewed were locked into a ‘coping mode’, and were extremely reluctant to expand, which owners ascribed to inappropriate regulation, outright regulatory failures and/or poor labour relations. At the same time, many employers openly admitted to not adhering to at least some labour regulations. At a theoretical level, it is argued that there is much more to promoting enterprise than the formal protection of owner rights. The paper concludes with an assessment of the possibilities and challenges of the practicalities of reform. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The supply or lack of services impacts on people's quality of life, and so the Constitution of South Africa and other strategy documents emphasise the provision of services to all South African citizens irrespective of colour or creed. The services are vast and the responsibility for provision is divided between national, provincial and local authorities. This paper focuses on the delivery of services whose responsibility and accountability lies with the local municipalities, including: water; electricity; sanitation and refuse removal. The paper also explores the background to the recent unrest in the country with a focus on Dipaleseng Municipality, looking at its socio-economic situation, and challenges which include poverty, economic stability and provision of basic services. Sources of data include the South African media, journal articles, relevant documents, websites and databases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent scholarship laments the growing fragmentation of the working class due to flexible labour regimes and unemployment. This paper examines an emerging effort in South Africa to counter this fragmentation: the United Front project, initiated and led by the National Union of Metalworkers South Africa (NUMSA). Drawing on 74 interviews conducted at two different NUMSA-led protests in Johannesburg, the analysis unpacks two sets of tensions. One set of tensions revolves around class politics, which pertain to the divide between unionized workers in relatively stable employment, and impoverished communities ravaged by unemployment. The other set of tensions revolves around party politics, including divisions with respect to the United Front's opposition to the ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC). Each dimension reveals both crucial sources of solidarity and potential obstacles, showing that forging a broad working-class unity in the current period is complex, but not impossible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: South Africa’s Disability Grant (DG) program has been criticized for its poor administration and the dependency culture it promotes. This paper assesses the program’s targeting effectiveness and its effects on labor supply. Using disability self-reports and standard measures of economic well being, the results suggest that DG’s inclusion errors are relatively limited but exclusion errors are substantial and serious. The paper also shows that increased leniency in disability screening policy in the Gauteng province in the early 2000s does not appear to have altered labor market behaviors relative to Northern Cape, a province where there was no change in policy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper provides a demographic analysis of the Human Sciences Research Council homelessness survey, and starts to develop a profile of the adult and child street homeless populations in the northern part of South Africa. Attempting to sketch the population dynamics of homelessness, the paper reviews research methodology, looks at the age, gender and employment status of the respondents, and identifies the foreign-born and citizen population elements. The data suggest that cross-border migrants represent a significant share of the street homeless, and particularly of street children. In addition, it appears that the child and adult populations are largely separate, with older street children leaving the streets to be replaced by in-migrating rural-born homeless adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban renewal and inner city regeneration have become critical efforts for the South African government, which has invested in several structures to stem the tide of decline in its nine major cities. Commitment to the alleviation of poverty is a focal point of the renewal and regeneration agenda and will remain so in the future. This effort is motivated by the fact that around 24% of the South African population currently lives on less than USD 1.00 per day, below the poverty line defined by the World Bank. The Central Government has made numerous public commitments to development, a part of which concerns extensive infrastructure investment and service delivery. Communities are expected to participate fully in the planning and implementation of these urban renewal projects. To this aim, participation is a process through which stakeholders influence and share control over development initiatives and the decisions and resources which affect them. Community participation should be aimed at empowering people by ensuring the development of skills and the creation of employment opportunities. This paper first explores the concept of community participation, and will then look at relevant past experiences in relation to community participation in urban renewal projects. Furthermore, the paper outlines the challenges and problems of community participation in urban renewal projects in Johannesburg, and finally, close with recommendations for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In South Africa, the levels of unemployment and poverty are extremely high and two of South Africa's most pressing problems. There is also a widely acknowledged need for housing and municipal infrastructure (water supply, sewerage, streets, stormwater drainage, electricity, refuse collection). There a need for physical infrastructure in both urban and rural areas. The infrastructure backlog is aggravated by the apparent lack of capacity and skills at institutional, community and individual levels. Urban renewal and inner city regeneration projects are a priority for the South African government which have invested in several areas to stem the tide of decline in its nine major cities. Commitment to alleviation of poverty has become very high on the government agenda and will stay one of the focal points of government. A labor-intensive approach can be used to maximise the number of people employed in urban renewal projects and this can go a long way in alleviating poverty and reducing the more than 28% unemployment rate in South Africa. This paper will look at some past African experiences in assessing the problems and potential of a labor-intensive approach in urban renewal projects. The paper will then outline the contribution which labor-intensive approach could make to alleviate the unemployment and in reducing poverty in South African cities. Finally, the paper closes with some recommendations for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Africa is the world's most unequal country. Poverty and inequality, exacerbated by unemployment are the country's foremost challenges. The present government has made significant progress regarding the provision of basic services and broadening the social wage. However, the unfortunate reality is that inequality grew since the advent of democracy over twenty years ago. This development runs contrary to the commitments of the South African Constitution and social policy provisions, thereby raising more serious questions of rights and social justice. The continuity, depth and breadth of inequality, including the extraordinary financial and social costs is linked to the legacy of apartheid. Inequality is structurally embedded spatially and economically. Crucially, inequality is also a function of access to opportunities and human development outcomes. The paper attempts a theoretical discussion of the relationship between inequality, poverty and unemployment, which requires greater input; identifies some barriers to transformation; and presents tentative approaches towards lowering inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper a working definition of lone motherhood in the South African context is presented. Whilst rejecting any assumption that lone motherhood is necessarily experienced as an identity, it is argued that the category of lone motherhood has analytical value as it exposes the circumstances faced by women who care for children without a partner or spouse present. The working definition is operationalised using household survey data and certain methodological challenges are discussed. A profile of lone mothers is presented and it is demonstrated that lone mothers living with children are more deprived than women who additionally live with a partner or spouse. This raises several policy imperatives including the need for broader debates about valuing unpaid care work and achieving comprehensive social security, particularly within the hostile climate of widespread poverty and unemployment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Non-formal adult education and training (NFET) in South Africa is instrumental in breaking the high level of poverty and decreasing the social inequality the country continues to face as a post-apartheid democracy. Public and private NFET centres in South Africa aim to meet the training needs of adults who have been deprived of formal education with courses which foster access to opportunities for skills acquisition and employment and bring about social and economic inclusion. However, many adults who were facing long-term unemployment due to a lack of marketable skills remain unemployed after completing NFET programmes. This paper reports on a study which investigated what constitutes favourable conditions ('internal enabling environments') for skills acquisition inside NFET centres leading to employment and how they can be improved to contribute to coordinated efforts of increasing NFET graduates' paid and/or self-employment capacities. The authors found that centres focusing on activities suitable for self-employment during training were more likely to create internal enabling environments for skills acquisition and income generation than centres offering courses designed for entering paid employment. The authors conclude that there appears to be a significant correlation between NFET centres' training programme objectives, financial resources, trainee selection criteria, the process of training needs assessment, and skills acquisition for successful employment outcomes of NFET graduates. Without these internal enabling factors, adult trainees are likely to continue finding it difficult to integrate into the labour market or participate in economic activities and hence break the cycle of poverty and social exclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the role of personal characteristics in not only determining the unemployment duration but also the probability of unemployment terminating with transitions into wage-employment, self-employment or higher education. Formulated within the survival analysis framework using the Labour Market Entry Survey, this study provides the first empirical evidence on black youth unemployment duration in South Africa. The results of the analysis indicate non-monotonic duration dependence with other individual, household and locational covariates exerting very different impacts on the state-specific exit rates from unemployment for both young men and women. The scarring impact evident in negative duration dependence and gender-specific findings point to the need for more informed policy formulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Urban informal settlements remain sites of high HIV incidence and prevalence, as well as violence. Increasing attention is paid on how configurations of young men's masculinities shape these practices through exploring how men build respect and identity. In this paper, we explore how young Black South Africans in two urban informal settlements construct respect and a masculine identity. Methods: Data are drawn from three focus groups and 19 in-depth interviews. Results: We suggest that while young men aspire to a 'traditional' masculinity, prioritising economic power and control over the household, we suggest that a youth masculinity emerges which, in lieu of alternative ways to display power, prioritises violence and control over men's sexual partners, men seeking multiple sexual partners and men's violence to other men. This functions as a way of demonstrating masculinity and their position within a public gender order. Discussion: We suggest there are three implications of the findings for working with men on violence and HIV-risk reduction. First, there exist a number of contradictions in men's discourses about masculinity that may provide spaces and opportunities for change. Second, it is important to work on multiple issues at once given the way violence, alcohol use, and sexual risk are interlinked in youth masculinity. Finally, engaging with men's exclusion from the capitalist system may provide an important way to reduce violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a momentum threshold autoregressive (MTAR) model is used to evaluate nonlinear equilibrium reversion between unemployment and economic growth for South African data between the periods 2000-2013. To attain this objective we estimate the first-difference and the gap model variations of Okun's specification. For the latter model variation, we employ three de-trending methods to obtain the relevant 'gap' data; namely, the Hodrick-Prescott (HP) filter, the Baxter-King (BK) filter and the Butterworth (BW) digital filter. A common finding from our empirical analysis is that Okun's law holds concretely for South African data regardless of the model specification or the de-trending technique that is used. Moreover, our analysis proves that unemployment granger causes economic growth in the long-run, a result which may account for the jobless-growth phenomenon experienced by South Africa over the last decade or so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social work students deal with complex social problems such as poverty, unemployment and the devastating effects of HIV and AIDS in their practice, education and training and it is important to acknowledge that these developmental challenges have global dimensions. The four foundational pillars in the Global Agenda on Social Work and Social Development provide a framework for social work policy education. A project using this framework was implemented in South Africa and the United States. This article discusses the findings of an exploratory qualitative research project based on 58 student final papers from South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper demonstrates that poverty and inequality trends can diverge. It then discusses inequality trends and shows that, despite measurement issues, there is consensus that inequality is very high and has been rising over much of the post-transition period. Due to rising inequality within all groups, and particularly the black population, and lower inequality between race groups, within-group inequality has become the dominant form of inequality. That does not, however, detract from the fact that inequality between groups is still very large. High income inequality largely stems from inequality in access to wage income, due more to wage inequality than to unemployment. A Gini coefficient for wage income amongst the employed of above 0.60 effectively sets a floor to overall income inequality. The high wage premium to educated workers derives from a combination of a skills shortage at the top end of the educational spectrum, driving up their wages, and a surfeit of poorly-educated workers competing for scarce unskilled jobs dampening unskilled wages; if the unemployed were to find jobs, it would be in this bottom part of the wage distribution, and consequently this would not much reduce wage inequality. A continuation of the historical pattern whereby only a small segment of the population obtained good schooling would leave the structures underlying the large wage premium unaltered. The time frame for substantial inequality reduction is thus necessarily a long one, while poverty reduction efforts should not wait for this to occur. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

‘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. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Although initially related to the country's colonial and apartheid history, material inequality in South Africa has deepened, with recent research suggesting that South Africa now has the highest levels of inequality in the world. In this paper, we examine the interactional reproduction of inequality by paying particular attention to the discursive and interactional practices employed in students' talk about food. Specifically, we examine food-related troubles talk and food-related jokes and humor, showing how students who described food-related troubles produced these troubles as shared and systemic, while students who produced food-related jokes displayed that they take for granted the material resources needed to have a range of food consumption choices available to them, while treating food consumption as a matter of individual choice. These orientations were collaboratively produced through a range of interactionally organized practices, including patterns of alignment and dis-alignment, pronoun use, laughter, and aspects of the formulation of utterances. While our analysis primarily focuses on these discursive and interactional practices, we also consider how discursive practices can be linked to the material conditions of participants' lives outside of the analyzed interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many recent studies compared the 1995 October Household Survey (OHS) with the latest available Labour Force Survey (LFS) to derive the unemployment ‘trends’ in South Africa since the transition, but this approach only gives a snapshot of unemployment at two points in time. Although the better approach is to examine all available labour surveys to derive the real unemployment trends during the period, this does not mean these trends are fully reliable and comparable, as the sampling method, weighting technique, questionnaire design and labour market status derivation methodology to define the unemployed are different across the surveys. In particular, the unemployment estimates in OHS 1995–99 and during the changeover between OHS and LFS in both narrow and broad terms increased rapidly. This paper aimed to address these issues, if possible, in order to improve the comparability and reliability of unemployment aggregates across the surveys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most pressing socio-economic problems of the South African economy is high youth unemployment. Recent studies only briefly examined how youths have fared since the transition by comparing the 1995 October Household Survey with a Labour Force Survey, and hardly investigated whether the discouraged workseekers are different from the unemployed. This paper re-examined youth unemployment trends in the 2008–12 Quarterly Labour Force Surveys, before comparing the characteristics of discouraged workseekers and narrow unemployed. Whether different policies are needed to boost youth employment in each group is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]