Demography in South Africa

This paper looks to uncover the growth traps and opportunities for the South African economy, with a focus on underlying labour market dynamics. We explore the potential of South Africa’s demographic dividend. We also consider the structure of the labour market and the growth-employment interactions, which uncover the skills-biased labour demand path of the economy and a rising trend in the use of labour brokers to source temporary workers. Finally, we show a new labour market trend has emerged: a rise in the share of public sector employment along with higher conditional returns to public sector workers than to those in the private sector.

President Jacob Zuma appointed the National Planning Commission in May 2010 to draft a vision and national development plan. The Commission is an advisory body consisting of 26 people drawn largely from outside government, chosen for their expertise in key areas.
The Commission’s Diagnostic Report, released in June 2011, set out South Africa’s achievements and shortcomings since 1994. It identified a failure to implement policies and an absence of broad partnerships as the main reasons for slow progress, and set out nine primary challenges:
1. Too few people work
2. The quality of school education for black people is poor
3. Infrastructure is poorly located, inadequate and under-maintained
4. Spatial divides hobble inclusive development
5. The economy is unsustainably resource intensive
6. The public health system cannot meet demand or sustain quality
7. Public services are uneven and often of poor quality
8. Corruption levels are high
9. South Africa remains a divided society.

(...) This is a plan for South Africa. It provides a broad strategic framework to guide key choices and actions. Its success will depend on all South Africans taking responsibility for the plan, led by the President and Cabinet.This overview is a high-level summary of the plan. The 15 chapters address the major thematic areas in detail, providing evidence, recommendations and clear implementation frameworks.

Following publication of the plan, the Commission will focus on:
Mobilising society to support the plan, and exploring a social compact to reduce poverty and inequality through investment and employment.
Conducting research on critical issues affecting long-term development.
Advising government and social partners on implementing the plan.
Working with relevant state agencies to report on the progress of the objectives.