Every so often, while on the way to the office, I would stop at the department of education’s district office, which covers Lenasia, Soweto and surrounds to ask the assembled workers why they were protesting.  I would quiz the workers about their demands. To be clear, there are times when ‘wild cat’ strikes are needed and obviously there were deeper issues under the surface that needed to be addressed. However, I always left with a deep sense of disappointment that the children were being failed.

The Gauteng Education Department’s intention to host an education summit in Soweto is thus an important development. The background to the summit is a pattern of ‘wild cat’ strikes, ineffective management of the district, a limited and ineffective role for parents and students and the deep politicisation of public service delivery.

Underlying these dynamics is a set of accusations. On the one hand, community members argue, that the unions have taken over the schools and are protecting corrupt teachers who shirk their responsibilities. On the other hand, some unions argue that the management of the district is ineffective and that administrative decisions are unfair, and have an adverse effect on them. Both versions of the story have elements of truth, but offer little by way of solutions.

Clearly this set of circumstances cannot continue if decent schooling is to be established in Soweto.

After a long period of silence, the Gauteng Provincial Government and the provincial leadership of the African National Congress (ANC) are finally seeking to resolve the issue.

Observing the intervention by government is instructive, as it is has emphasised two ideas.

First, the expression “teachers should be in school teaching” has gone viral in what young people call “Southside,” meaning the south of Johannesburg. Leaders have tapped into the deep frustration in these communities that schooling is deteriorating in their areas. More to the point, government leaders are finally taking a strong stance, indicating that due legal processes will follow if teaching is disrupted.

This is significant because politicians have become accustomed to rhetorical attacks on teaching without knuckling down to tackle the thorny power structures that permit poor education to continue. The example of the intervention in Soweto suggests an important shift from rhetoric to the much-needed day-to-day political work required to create the conditions for effective education to become a reality. Provincial authorities and political leaders have recently not just been vocal, but have started to get their hands dirty dealing with ineffective administrative systems and emphasising that there is a requirement that “teachers teach.”

Second, government is focussing on a process of social dialogue with an education summit planned in the near future. The process of setting up the summit itself has been the subject of numerous meetings with several challenges being thrown up. However, all said and done, the process, which has had to mediate the power relations that have underpinned under-performing schools, is on track.  Importantly, the national leadership of trade unions and school governing bodies have supported the process agreeing to participate in and implement an intervention programme.

This promising effort for building effective schooling however faces a significant public policy challenge. There are schools in areas like Lenasia, Ennerdale and Soweto that were once centres of excellence, but today are mediocre. At the same time, a small number of schools in informal settlements are thriving despite tough and trying conditions.

What factors make schools, once excellent, become mediocre and others that look like they should be failing, succeed?

Research on performance at the school level emphasises structural and other factors.

The structural focus on education emphasizes that there is a correlation between school performance and poverty levels in a community, arguing a devastating conclusion: democratic South Africa is failing children in poorer communities. In a publication that assesses socio-economic transformation in South Africa, Stephen Taylor and Derek Yu, aptly capture this perspective arguing, “Being poor is a serious disadvantage educationally, but going to a school where poor students are concentrated is even more disadvantageous.”

School level research highlights the importance of effective management and the need for motivated and committed staff in schools. It argues that significant improvements in schooling can be achieved by improving management and accountability at the local level. This is supported by evidence that a small band of schools in poorer areas are providing good quality education under extremely difficult conditions.

In this context, the process in Soweto schools has national importance as it asks demanding questions of all parties involved and potentially serves as a best practice case. In fact, there are strong possibilities for a good outcome and focussed implementation measures.

Key amongst this is the fact that all the major parties have recognised that there is a crisis in education. The South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) has for instance taken the unprecedented step of voicing support for the process at a national level as well as supporting their regional structures to participate in the process. It provides a tangible commitment to an earlier declaration by all teachers’ unions to commit to improving education. More to the point, the provincial leadership of the ANC have provided political support to the Department of Education to see this difficult process to its conclusion.

The message is important because it indicates that political interventions are available to support the process. To put it bluntly, the political environment to tackle the underlying conditions has been a long time coming, but is finally in place.

The process will have profound implications for the role of trade unionism in the public service. The SADTU general secretary is for instance quoted asking an important question, “Are we investing in political administration or in education?”

South Africa currently spends a significant share of its expenditure on education and the question being posed focuses attention on how effectively money is being spent. Its deeper import is that it indicates that trade unions are grappling with issues of educational performance and asking demanding questions.  This is precisely the sort of “transformative unionism” needed.

Potentially, trade unions could play a significant role asking tough questions on public policy and, at the same time, partner with government and communities to undertake bold experiments in improving education. Significantly, civil society organisations like Equal Education and parent’s organisations are beginning to have their voices heard and will benefit from a process that is more local and focussed on the specifics of an area.

There is thus hope that a process to improve education and address the tough political and public policy questions may finally be emerging. The process remains nascent and requires extensive support. The long term potential is the development of a model that brings role players together in a process of implementation. South Africa needs such examples especially in districts that perform poorly. The process in Soweto may just provide the start that we need.

This article first appeared on SACSIS

I will be launching Zapreneur tomorrow.

Zapreneur is a platform for new voices and ideas on the challenges facing South Africa. Zapreneur will offer:

• Original and challenging content
• Constructive conversations on developing public policy alternatives

I am so excited, and hope you will take a moment and register on the site.

For more clips visit SACSIS. The organisers have captured the essence of the engagement as follows:

SACSIS and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung South Africa Office. The roundtable examined the media’s perspective of the South African economy.Other media speakers at the event included, Nic Dawes (Editor in Chief, Mail & Guardian), Alide Dasnois (Editor, Cape Times) and Reg Rumney (Head of the Centre for Economics Journalism in Africa, Rhodes University). Editors were asked to answer the following questions: Is the economy on the right growth path? What are the prospects for making it more inclusive? How does the media report on the economy? Does the media have a vision for South Africa’s economic development?

(Still a little strange to be posting clips of myself online.)

This post brings together three key questions that arise  from the 2010 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS). This post is simply about putting some of the numbers together, so that I can begin to think through the options and implications.The three areas I am focussing on :

• Local government share of revenue
• Costing of services and effective spending
• Economic growth and employment creation

1. Should local government get more?

Local government receives 8,4% of nationally raised taxes, national government (46,7%) and provincial government (44,9%).

Local government’s however have a range of responsibilities, including providing water and electricity. Often providing these services occurs without:

• a strong base of taxpayers and/or
• strong instruments to raise revenue.

The underlying issue is should local government have a greater share of nationally raised revenue, and will it be used effectively?

2. Is a “real increase” enough, and what would quality public services cost?

National Treasury projects expenditure growth of between 8-9% from 2011/12 to 2013/14. Inflation is projected to range between 4.4% to 5.2% over that period. This implication is that South Africa can expect “real increases” in expenditure over the medium-term. During, the mid-1990′s during the Growth, Employment and Redistribution: A Macroeconomic Policy many activists would have welcomed a real increase. The problem however is that even if there is a real increase in expenditure, we have not as a country answered the question – what does it cost to offer high quality public services to all South Africans? In doing that we can then understand if a real increase is enough. However, we must in addition to this, begin understanding the efficacy of existing expenditure programmes. In other words, link the quantitative estimation of need to qualitative improvements in service delivery.

3. How do we increase employment with moderate economic growth?

Minister Gordhan indicated that over 1 million jobs had been lost in the last year. He then emphasised that a labour absorbing economy required faster economic growth . It is widely agreed that to reach the goals of halving unemployment South Africa requires a growth rate of between 6-7% or even higher than that. National Treasury estimates suggest that we are still well below these targets, with GDP growth at best reaching 4,4% in 2013 as shown in the chart below. Should we wait for economic growth to kick in, and then unemployment decreases? Alternatively, can a different strategy that is more inclusive be possible even under moderate economic growth?

Employed persons are those aged between 15-64 years who,during the reference week:

• Did any work for at least one hour; or
• Had a job or business but were not at work (temporarily absent).

The table below provides the official unemployment rate by race for the second quarters in 2009 and 2010.

Unemployment by Race (Second Quarter 2009 and 2010)

Source: Statistics South Africa

Bianca Mavuso wearing Francois Vedermme

How do we tell the story of economic policy in South Africa? As an analyst my tools are statistics and substantiation, and even sometimes a case study. Steve Mandy, a fashion artist, tells the story through art. (A profile of Steve is found here.) His exhibition – which I have viewed only through online pictures – tells a more accessible story. (Details on the exhibition are here.)The exhibition titled “Local Obsession” – which involves Steve working with fashion designers – offers a profound and demanding reflection of the clothing industry, and more broadly, the South African economy.

I requested permission to use some of the images. Steve Mandy made a phone call, and explained the motivations behind his exhibition. The aspect that stood out for me was using what was available to develop and fund the exhibition, and how the exhibition appealed to an audience outside the traditional audiences that attend art exhibitions. This is a typical case of an entrepreneur using the available inputs to explore an existing opportunity.

Whilst, I am not a sophisticated art goer, I have always appreciated the artist’s perspective. In this case, the exhibition matches a beauty of the exhibition, with an invitation to think and act about our deeper social and economic issues. The exhibition and its motivations raises three broader issues for economic policy in South Africa.

One – Behavioural Change

The exhibition asks South Africans for more consciousness in buying choices. The idea being that buying South African helps us to grow an industry. There have been several attempts to shift buying decisions towards South African products. The challenge for businesses however remains providing value to customers, both in terms of quality and price. The exhibition shows that there are strong possibilities for providing both affordable and high quality clothing products in South Africa. In this sense, it provides a much more imaginative restatement of the traditional debate on low cost imports in South Africa, which asks the questions devoid of creativity. The  question is  “Do poor people benefit more from cheaper products which

Priynaka wearing a Haroun Hansrot Creation

make South Africans factories unviable, or do they benefit from having jobs in factories?”. The exhibition turns the question around asking instead: What are possibilities for creating a viable clothing industry that both provides good quality goods, and serves a market effectively.

Two – Value Chains

At first blush, I was left wondering what on earth do resin and steel have to do with clothing. Here again, the exhibition seeks to show  how unconventional inputs are crafted into products, with a bit of imagination. It however raises a deeper insight -  producing internationally competitive products requires value chains that give fair value and price to businesses, if South African businesses are to create awesome products, which are potentially job creating. The linkages and the innovation in other parts of the economy create new inputs, and as such scream out for conversion into unexpected opportunity, is something we very often glance over in developing economic policy.

Three – Make it happen locally

Gugu Msimang Creation Multi media Fibre glass, resin and fabric

There is obviously too much rah-rah in the entrepreneurial world, and huge structural challenges for South African entrepreneurs. However, as Steve mentioned in our chat, he finds ways to use what existed to create the exhibition. This included partnering with a range of designers, manufacturers and involving communities in the process.

Granted, the structure of the economy is an obstacle for entrepreneurs. Yet, there is a lesson for  those struggling to start-up (that includes me) can learn a lesson or two. The lesson is somehow make a plan.

In fact, it shows that if think creatively and logically at the same time, the inputs might be available.

In sum, the exhibition raises some important and valid public policy issues in an accessible and beautiful way. Personally, it provided both a distraction and space to think about the South African conversation.

Netsetter Badge

The Netsetter made a surprise announcement that it would close. My surprise at the closure is two-fold:

1. As part of Envato, Netsetter has some of the most experienced people working on it.
2. The blog was something I always read, and I would rate it among my favourites blogs on entrepreneurship.

I first took notice of the Netsetter with a video by Envato founder Collis Ta’eed that gave practical expression to the idea of “start small and iterate”. The presentation provided a lesson in simplicity, and especially to test ideas . After that I enjoyed reading The Netsetter. So I am sad to see it go, but have a nagging optimism (nay, wish) that the site will still continue.

As someone interested in starting up, I have however learned lessons.

Lesson One: Crowded Niches

Well, hopefully you think putting “crowded” and “niches” together is an oxymoron. It is an oxymoron. The field of blogging on entrepreneurship is really crowded, and very often it is much of the sameness. For instance, I was a little hesitant to subscribe to emails from The Netsetter, because most site repeat the same rah-rah. Sometimes it is encouraging, but often I need something a little more directed to my immediate needs.I signed up anyway because Envato is an awesome company, and that I may learn something. I did. Most of the posts were useful, and found resonance in my day-to-day work.

However, entrepreneurial advice is a very crowded field on the Internet. Competing in this field even for an established company like Envato proved difficult.

Lesson Two: Cut Losses Early

This is self-evident for any start-up. Collis Ta’eed makes the point well in announcing the closure of Netsetter:

…some blog niches just seem to catch fire like they are giant oil wells of audience demand, while others are like putting a flame to a bucket of water.

The reasoning is that The Netsetter does not have the traffic of other blogs in the stable, and resources directed to these other growing areas. This is a brave decision especially for an established company, which provides food for thought. In cutting losses early there is acceptance of (and I hate using the word) failure. This is however a major lesson for any bootstrapped start-up.

Lesson Three: More is often more

We all are seemingly addicted to information. The Netsetter never provided a daily post or the seemingly insatiable demand for “list posts” (i.e. posts with tons of links). I liked the site for precisely these reasons. My choice is for fewer, high quality articles. Yet, however as indicated on The Netsetter, there is a relationship between more posts and traffic. There is however a model of “fewer high quality articles” that could work. The measure cannot however be growing traffic, but something else.

The alternative position is to focus on building economic inclusion so that, as growth ramps up, so too, do employment growth and a concomitant reduction in poverty and inequality occur.

Enter COSATU’s economic proposals contained in “A growth Path Towards Full Employment.”

The proposals straddle an old style debate on economic growth, but more imaginatively, offer a set of propositions that open the space for a new discussion on economic policy. In so doing, it accepts as foundational, the structural nature of poverty, unemployment and inequality.

Economic commentators have been critical of these proposals. The major response has been that the COSATU proposals would herald economic catastrophe because they are too ideologically grounded in a socialist perspective. A softer criticism is that COSATU’s strong focus on macroeconomic policy fails to deal with the challenges of the micro economy. In this vein, Hillary Joffe of Business Day argues that greater focus is needed to understand the incentives of private investment decisions.
Seasoned commentators on the left, like columnist Terry Bell, argue that the proposals mark a continuation of a failed strategy centred on reaching an economic consensus based on corporatist deal making. The justified criticism is that current versions of a social compact would be inadequate to meet the developmental challenges we face. Thus, COSATU needs to build power. All said, the criticisms indicate that COSATU’S views are important enough to be contested.
COSATU however has its supporters. After the formal launch of its growth path proposals, civil society and private sector organisations provided an instructive account of why COSATU’S proposals will resonate in the “real economy.” More to the point, why those struggling in the economy understand the proposals in a deeper manner than the majority of economic commentators.

First, the COSATU proposal for government to play the role of “emloyer of last resort” resonated with the experience of NGOs that provide services. For example, community health workers are employed by NGOS to provide care and counselling to communities ravaged by HIV and Aids. These NGOs provide services that should be delivered by government. They asked whether the proposals would see community health workers employed by government, or if government would support NGOs more aggressively.
The broader debate on the size of the public service, the cost of employment and related matters; thus takes a backseat. The important factor is that the discussion is focussed on both how to improve services and increase employment. The prospect of labour absorbing public services based in communities is thus an important theme, with the costs of employment of these community workers open for debate.
Second, emerging business saw value in the proposals. Traditional healers outlined their frustrating experience with government policy and asked for COSATU to intervene. Traditional healers are small businesses without a strong voice, asking COSATU for support to get their voices heard.
Emerging miners took a more practical approach, proposing an issue-based coalition with COSATU. COSATU’s response was counter intuitive – it would seek to build support amongst emerging business because at present there was more that they had in common. What organised workers have in common with emerging business is that without a deconcentration of the economy, both are excluded from building sustainable livelihood strategies.
Littered throughout COSATU’s document are policies that support small business through better competition policy, procurement and financing. However, whilst COSATU’s proposals on emerging business are underdeveloped, the trade union federation has opened this space, and with it, recognition that it must understand the small business sector better.
Third, COSATU’s industrial policy stance breaks new ground, and refines its support for manufacturing. A strident criticism of COSATU’s industrial policy is that wide scale blue collar manufacturing jobs are impossible in the current context.
COSATU’s substantiation for manufacturing as a lead sector is however instructive. According to its calculations, manufacturing not only results in higher employment, but there is also a strong correlation between specific manufacturing sub-sectors and rapid economic growth. Yet, it recognises that without changes to the value of the rand, manufacturing will face significant challenges. A proposal supported by manufacturers themselves.
However, the “global balance of forces” has changed. The green economy and the care economy have been identified as job creating and high growth areas, especially given the global economic crisis. In greening the economy and caring for people, employment can be created argues COSATU’s document. The “care industry” would increase employment amongst black women in particular, currently representing a very marginalised group in the economy.
Fourth, political realism is evident. In an impressive critique of COSATU’s document at its formal launch, a representative of a student organisation asked about the relationship between this document and building a socialist economy. COSATU’s leadership answered in the parlance of the ANC. The response was that “the transition to a socialist economy, in our theory, is that at this stage we need to deepen the National Democratic Revolution (NDR). The proposals are not a socialist manifesto but deepen the NDR.”
I would decode this response to mean that given the social crises, practical steps need to be taken, which deepen democracy and economic inclusion. That, of course, does not mean that COSATU will not seek to deepen equality swiftly in our society, but rather that in policy selection, practical realities are important.
Fifth, COSATU is speaking to more than its members. COSATU speaks about the de-commodification of services and in so doing acknowledges the work of social movements. Their proposal on opening economic opportunities resonates with organisations organising street traders through a project to strengthen the “social solidarity economy.” Similarly, proposals in each of the industrial sectors will resonate with emerging business.
In doing this, COSATU is taking initial steps to speak for the “working class for a whole.”
Conventional critiques offer a reading of the document that fail to acknowledge the detail of the proposals. However, COSATU’s proposals resonate outside the corridors of power and have presented the imagination of a future tied to an emancipatory project. Yet, COSATU must buttress this with practical action and review its policies, as it engages society. It will need to build evidence of the real economy to convince society of its views.
Only then can we begin to look forward to what shop stewards call a “redistributive compact.”

This article first appeared on SACSIS.