Current News | Development Policy Research Unit

IEA World Congress 2026, Belgrade | Call for papers

Upcoming Workshop: Shaping Social Protection for a Just Energy Transition in South Africa

Ramaphosa appoints Presidential Economic Advisory Council for new administration

Presidential Economic Advisory Council II established for new administration

President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed members of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council to play an important role in guiding the 7th Administration in its pursuit of rapid, inclusive and sustainable economic growth and job creation

Haroon Bhorat at the #Jobs4Dev conference in 2024

The 2024 Jobs and Development Conference

The DPRU was a co-organiser of the 2024 #Jobs4Dev conference held in Egypt, in early October.

In Memory of Minister Pravin Gordhan

New report: Lesotho’s Demographic Dividend

A new report by the United Nations Population Fund and the Development Policy Research Unit titled “Lesotho’s Demographic Dividend in the Context of Health and Other Development Challenges”, has just been published.

In the media: "Watts happening to work? The labour market effects of loadshedding"

Recently published research paper “Watts happening to work? The labour market effects of loadshedding”, authored by Tim Köhler and Prof. Haroon Bhorat, has sparked significant media interest...

New DPRU working paper: "Watts happening to work? The labour market effects of South Africa´s electricity crisis"

This paper merges labour force survey microdata with high-frequency electricity supply and demand data to provide the first estimates of the relationships between outages and labour market outcomes in South Africa.

Francis Wilson Memorial Prize awarded to Tim Köhler

Congratulations to the winners of the Francis Wilson Memorial Prize for Data-Driven Research!

National Treasury / Nobel in Africa Policy Roundtable Event

How to make employment and labour market policy central in our thinking on Social Protection, Industrialisation, and Climate Change in South Africa: A conversation with 3 international experts

Just published: Just Transition & the Labour Market in South Africa

This report provides a robust quantitative estimate of direct and indirect jobs associated with the coal sector in SA, and explores the labour market profile and characteristics of the individuals and households linked to the coal sector.

Workshop: The Just Transition in South Africa – Size, Shape and Determinants

This workshop discussing 'Jobs, Livelihoods & Social Protection in the Coal Industry', is convened by the DPRU and the Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Development.

Visiting PhD Fellow from UNU-MERIT: Rafael de la Vega

The DPRU welcomes a visiting PhD fellow at UNU-MERIT, Rafael de la Vega, for the next few months.

New DPRU working paper: "Wages and Wage Inequality during the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Africa"

We conduct a micro-econometric analysis of the evolution of the level and nature of wage inequality and its drivers during the first two years of the pandemic in South Africa.

UCT Press relaunch - featuring "Fighting Poverty: Labour markets and inequality in SA"

"Fighting poverty...", published in 2001, is now open access, and features as one of the showcased books in the relaunch of UCT Press on 19 October 2023.