About PERSA

The Political Economy of Restructuring South Africa, PERSA, is a project bringing together researchers from both within and outside South Africa to examine the major elements in the development of the economy and economic and social policy making in South Africa over the post-apartheid period. We aim to provide rigorous critical analysis of the South African economy, to offer alternative policy recommendations and also, at a minimum, to stimulate a higher level of debate over the policies both taken and those potentially available and deliverable. This requires analysis not only of what policies have been adopted, and with what consequences, but of how policy has been made, and of the major forces shaping and influencing policy choices and climate.

 

The initial inspiration and point of departure for PERSA is the need to assess, and update, the MERG Report of 1993, Making Democracy Work, which was a blueprint for a progressive macroeconomic policy package in the post-apartheid era. It was commissioned by the ANC but unceremoniously revoked as the ANC rapidly adopted what is generally accepted to be a shift to neo-liberal postures. PERSA involves, in different ways, three of the original editors of the MERG report: Ben Fine (SOAS), Vishnu Padayachee (Wits) and John Sender (SOAS).

 

Whilst there are lessons from the fate of MERG, rather than dwell on the past we prefer to examine the last twenty years which have witnessed considerable change in the political economy of South Africa. Extensive restructuring has been driven by corporate globalisation and financialisation but this has not displaced minerals and energy – the Minerals-Energy Complex, or MEC (Fine and Rustomjee 1996) – from the core of the economy. This system of accumulation, which has strong linkages within its component parts but weak linkages to other sectors of the economy, remains capital-intensive, limits job creation and perpetuates poverty and inequality.

 

Understanding the development trajectory of the South African economy and how this is determined by these underlying dynamics is the research agenda of Persa. In doing so we can begin to propose policy alternatives that can transform the economy’s growth path in a manner that serves the interests of the majority.

 

On this website we publish Working Papers on the economy and policy making as well as a programmed sequence of Booklets on the major areas listed below. Each booklet will: provide an overview of policy adopted in that area for the post-apartheid era; address the consequences of these policies; and make recommendations for alternative policies.

 

The major areas examined are:

• The Changing Minerals-Energy Complex

• Macroeconomic Policy

• Financialization and the Financial System

• Labour

• Agriculture and Rural Development

• Trade and Industrial Policy

• Energy and Infrastructure

• Taxation

• Health, Education, Housing and Water

 

In addition to these booklets, we post short commentaries on issues, events and articles, as well as links to other useful articles and websites. We hope these materials are helpful for academic researchers, trade unions, broader progressive elements within civil society, and the general reader.

PERSA is independent from, but supported by, the National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (NUMSA) and has received financial support from NUMSA and the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation.