Identifying Opportunities to Reduce Income Disparities in South Africa Today and In the Future

Part One: Research Proposal
Problem and Purpose Statement
Despite an abundance of natural resources, a modern infrastructure, and increasingly aggressive efforts by the national government and support from multiple nongovernmental organizations since apartheid ended in 1994, more than half (about 55% or 30.3 million people) of the South Africa population still lives in poverty today and another 13.8 million South Africans do not have enough to eat each day (Poverty & equity brief 2021). Moreover, current economic development indicators show that the per capita annualized consumption growth rate of the bottom 40 percent of the South African population actually suffered a 1.34% decline during the 4-year period from 2010 through 2014 (the latest statistic available from The World Bank). In sum, the situation for the poorest people in South Africa is worsening and there are few new opportunities available on the short-term horizon that can help them achieve their full employment potential and realize the complete range of human right guarantees in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and the South African constitution.
Against this backdrop, it is clear that South African policymakers as well as the international community must develop innovative solution which are targeted at not only alleviating the suffering of these impoverish individuals but pave the road for future economic development to ensure that everyone in South Africa that wants a job that pays a living wage can get one. Likewise, additional provisions must be made for the well-being of the people of South Africa who are unable to pursue gainful employment for whatever reason. To this end, developing new employment opportunities through public and private sectors partnerships represent timely and valuable potential solutions to these challenging problems.
B. Literature Review
Today, South Africa is classified as a middle-income nation that enjoys abundant natural resources, a mature legal and financial network as well as a comparatively modern telecommunications and transportation infrastructure (South Africa economy 2021). In addition, South Africa has the 17th largest stock exchange in the world and a population of 57 million people with a strong work ethic and sense of nationhood. Although South Africa experienced sustained economic growth during the early years of the 21st century, the global economic downturn in 2009 had a devastating effect on the country’s macroeconomic stability from which it has still not fully recovered (South Africa economy 2021).
Further compounding the problems facing South Africa at present was an energy crisis that began in 2007 which has resulted in rolling blackouts for many residents of major cities which have adversely affected virtually all facets of economic life in the country. In addition, despite significant progress otherwise, there are still severe problems lingering from the nation’s apartheid era that have created limited employment opportunities for many demographic groups (South Africa economy 2020). The net result of this perfect storm of existential threats arrayed against South Africa has been an increase in the level of income inequality which defy easy solutions (Kavya and Santhakumar 2020).
Furthermore, the combination of a lack of ongoing investments in infrastructure and growing unemployment rates has further exacerbated South Africa’s efforts to recover to its pre-recession levels, and the country has one of the world’s highest Covid-19 infection rates at present with 1.5 million confirmed cases and a new variant of the virus that threatens to further disrupt the country’s economic stability going forward (Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center 2021). Taken together, the foregoing trends and issues make it clear that the political leaders and people of South Africa have a number of challenges ahead, making the need to determine the best path forward at this point in time an especially timely and valuable enterprise.
C. Research Questions
The proposed study will be guided by the following research questions:
1. What are the primary constraints to reducing inequalities and promoting social justice, conceptualized as the equitable distribution of wealth, opportunities and privileges, in South Africa today?
2. What evidence-based initiatives have been used by the private sector in other emerging nations to improve social justice and income equality through initiatives such as job creation and skills training?
3. How can the existing human and natural resources in South Africa be leveraged to their best advantage for future economic development in ways that promote social justice and income equality?
4. How can public-private partnerships be used to their best effect in a South African context to achieve greater prosperity for all?
D. Sample
The overarching focus of the proposed study means that there are multiple stakeholders that are involved which should be included in the proposed study’s sample. To this end, the following individuals and organizations are tentatively scheduled to receive a hard-copy or online version of the custom questionnaire:
1. Broad based groups including organized labor organizations such as the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa, the Congress of South African Trade Unions, selected university student bodies and youth organizations;
2. Representatives of Political organizations such as the African National Congress, Democratic Alliance, Economic Freedom Fighters.
3. Members of the South African Parliament;
4. Academics;
5. Executives and board members of the South African Stock Exchange as well as selected non-stock exchange listed companies;
6. South African government departments, municipalities and state-owned enterprises;
7. Economists; and,
8. Others to be determined.
E. Methodology
The proposed study will use an exploratory mixed methodology drawing on both secondary and primary sources as well as quantitative and qualitative studies by private sector organizations, nongovernmental and governmental agencies. The primary data will be collected using a custom questionnaire designed according to the principles set forth by Neuman (2008) concerning techniques to improve the robustness and percentage of responses. The custom questionnaire was regarded as an essential component of the research methodology since it provides the opportunity to canvass stakeholders about their views on reducing income inequalities in general and in a South African context in particular.
The data collected from the completed custom questionnaires will be analyzed using the statistical analytical tools provided by the online survey service, SurveyMonkey, to generate relevant cross-tabulations concerning the views of different stakeholder groups about optimal strategies for reducing income inequalities in South Africa today and in the future. The resulting data will be presented in tabular and graphic formats and interpreted in a narrative fashion to identify significant trends and prevailing views among respondents concerning the issues of interest to the study proposed herein.
Part Two: Proposed Topics for the Dissertation
1. How can investments in job creation, education and skills training be used to their maximum effect to reduce income inequalities and promote social justice in South Africa?
2. What are the lingering vestiges of apartheid that are most salient in maintaining existing institutionalized racism and income disparities among South Africa’s marginalized citizenry and how can they be eliminated?
3. What economic development strategies have been used in other emerging nations to promote social justice and reduce income inequalities?
References
“Global Cases.” (2021). Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. [online] available: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html.
Kavya, B and Santhakumar, S (January 2020). “Economic Development, Financial Development, and Income Inequality Nexus.” Borsa Istanbul Review [in press].
Neuman, W (2008). Social Research Methods: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. New York: Pearson.
“South Africa economy” (2021) CIA World Factbook. [online] available: http://teacherlink.ed. usu.edu/tlresources/reference/factbook/geos/sf.html.
“South Africa Poverty and equity brief.” (2021). The World Bank. [online] available: https://databank.worldbank.org/data/download/poverty/33EF03BB-9722-4AE2-ABC7-AA2972D68AFE/Global_POVEQ_ZAF.pdf.