policy

Exchange Rate and Employment Project: Overview

Ngandu summarises the Human Sciences Research Council’s project on the relationship between the exchange rate and employment outcomes, and its possible policy implications. While there appears to be consensus that the currency is too volatile, little attention has been paid to what an employment-inducing exchange rate would be. The suite of papers in the exchange…

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Strategic interventions to support youth employability

Altman and Marock outline a proposed approach to improving the employability of young people in the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality. These Strategic Interventions for Youth Employability (SIYE) will become a subset of Tshwane‘s Youth Employment Strategy which is in the process of being designed. These early interventions will therefore focus on specific target groups that have…

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World Bank Household Surveys For The Africa Migration Project South Africa Migration Project Report

The Human Sciences Research Council (Human Sciences Research Council) carried out the Migration and Remittances Survey in South Africa for the World Bank in collaboration with the African Development Bank. The primary mandate of the Human Sciences Research Council in this project was to come up with a migration database. The specific activities included: •A…

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International Perspectives and Parallels in Labour markets

The article focuses on the apartheid era which left South Africa as a ‘special case’ in the field of labour market analysis, with large gaps of human development particularly in older generations, a huge degree of under utilisation of its labour force, and difficult tensions in its industrial relations. As if this heritage were not…

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Development of evidence based policy around homestead food production

Many South Africans are food insecure and suffer from nutrient deficiencies. Homestead food production is one element of a strategy for combating food insecurity in both urban and rural areas. NGOs and the government attempt to promote homestead production; however, the scale and impact of such support are not known. Practitioners of urban agriculture indicate…

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The Gendered Dimensions of Food Security in South Africa: A Review of the Literature

Reddy and Moletsane provide a broad literature review of the gendered dimensions of food security in South Africa. The paper assesses local meanings and contextual issues that influence the relations between gender, policy, and food insecurity. The report addresses: (1) the socio-political context of gender and food insecurity, (2) the policy context, (3) some theoretical…

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Identifying employment creating sectors in South Africa

Will Government’s current policy priorities and plans in relation to the formal services sector guide the economy towards its 2014 target of halving unemployment? Net new employment has mainly been found in formal and non-formal services. Given the structure of the SA economy, it is most probable that future employment will also be sourced from…

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Halving Unemployment by 2014:What will it take?

Government committed to halving unemployment between 2004 and 2014. Altman considers the following questions: how fast might the labour market grow, and what rate of job creation will be needed to achieve this target? Has the South Africa economy yet embarked on a sufficiently labour-absorbing path? Is Government policy moving in the right direction?

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