South Africa’s Economic Growth Path and the Limits of Imagination

Imagination is absent in the conventional spaces of South Africa’s economic growth path.Conventional wisdom equates increasing economic growth to around 7%, as an important target. In political speak, the growth target is of course a “necessary” and not a “sufficient” condition. What it In fact does is reflect orthodoxy. This policy stance is premised on the fiction that we can grow ourselves out of a situation of high unemployment, poverty and inequality.

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.”

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Posted: September 28th, 2010 | No Comments »
Filed under: Economic Inclusion | Tags: Congress of South African Trade Unions, Cosatu, Growth Path

Public Service Strike: Beyond Cowboy Bargaining

We have been here before. The third major public service strike since 1994 is upon us. During the first major public service strike since democracy, in 1999, trade unions suffered a significant defeat with government’s unilateral implementation of wages. But in 2007, public service unions turned the tables on government conducting an unprecedented strike, and building an unlikely coalition with departments responsible for frontline service delivery. This resulted in the introduction of occupational specific dispensations (OSDs) that put new occupational classifications, promotions and grading systems in place.

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Posted: August 21st, 2010 | No Comments »
Filed under: Civil Society, Public Services | Tags: Bargaining, Cosatu, Trade union