Launch: Oxford Handbook of the South African Economy

Oxford University Press's recently published The Oxford Handbook of the South African Economy, was launched by the President at a virtual event co-hosted by the Universities of the Witwatersrand and Johannesburg, on the 6th April 2022. President Cyril Ramaphosa said during his address, that he hoped the newly launched volume would provide valuable lessons that will help the country on its journey of economic recovery. "We expect economics to give us the evidence base to develop policies that will bring millions of excluded people into meaningful participation in the economy," he said.

 

Leading academics, economists, anthropologists and scientists, and members of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) (including DPRU Director Prof. Haroon Bhorat), collaborated to produce this voluminous study of the structure of the South African economy in its varied sectors and industries. The Handbook offers diverse analytical perspectives and debates that have implications for policymakers in the current climate of constrained economic growth in a COVID-19 pandemic era, weak economic transformation and the challenges of inequality and unemployment. 
 

A key chapter in the Handbook is "Changing Dynamics in the South African Labour Market", authored by Prof Bhorat, DPRU Senior Research Officer Ben Stanwix, and Amy Thornton (previously a DPRU researcher, now a a post-doctoral fellow with SALDRU and the African Centre for Excellence in Inequality Research).Their chapter introduces Part IV "The Labour Market, Distribution, and Social Policy". (Read more about their contribution here.)

 

Substantial media coverage of the launch event includes:

• Times Live: Oxford handbook of SA’s economy aims to help policymakers
• SABC News: There is urgent need for restructuring SA’s economy: Ramaphosa
• EWN: Ramaphosa Emphasises Importance Of Understanding SA’s Economy
• Power98.7fm: Watch: President Ramaphosa on launch
• The Citizen: Ramaphosa to launch book on South African economy
• BizCommunity: President launches Oxford Handbook of the South African Economy
• UJ News: Newly launched Oxford Handbook of the South African Economy to unpack the country’s key questions

Professor Fiona Tregenna, one of the handbook’s editors, says this book does not seek to have a particular standpoint but to rather educate: “The volume doesn’t really seek to advance any particular standpoint but rather it provides rigorous evidence and allows the reader to form their own views but analytically as to do appropriate policy responses.”

University of Johannesburg Vice-Chancellors Tshilidzi Marwala says the handbook is the product of collaborative work in understanding South Africa’s economy. “The Oxford handbook of the South African economy is an important step in the endeavour not only does it outline where the gaps lie, it allows us to chart a path forward. This is a joint initiative between Wits and UJ, a gentle reminder that collaboration and will are some of the keys to forging on.”

The book also looks at the country’s growing poverty and inequality, job creation and climate change.