Abstract
At the time of South Africa’s transition to democracy, marked by the election of the African National Congress led by Nelson Mandela in April 1994, the new government was faced with formidable challenges. Apartheid’s legacy was extremely high levels of poverty and income inequality, as well as an economic power totally concentrated within the white population. The economy had been in long-term decline for over twenty years, and had experienced more than a decade of substantial economic isolation, resulting from politically-linked sanctions on trade and investment and exclusion from global capital markets. But democratization made global reintegration possible.
I would like to thank comments from participants in seminars at ECLAC in Santiago and in Buenos Aires, in the Department of Economics at Wits University, Johannesburg, and the Wits Institute for Social & Economic Research. For his comments and his support, I am particularly grateful to Ricardo Ffrench-Davis at ECLAC. Some of the material in this chapter also appears in S. Gelb, “The South African economy: an overview”, in J. Daniel, et al. (eds.), State of the Nation: South Africa, 2004–2005, HSRC Press, Cape Town, 2004.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Black, A. (2002), “The export ‘success’ of the Motor Industry Development Programme and the implications for trade and industrial policy”, paper presented at TIPS Annual Forum. www.tips.org.za
Casale, D., C. Muller and D. Posel (2004), “‘Two million net new jobs’: A reconsideration of the rise in employment in South Africa, 1995–2003”, paper presented at TIPS/DPRU Conference. www.tips.org.za
Crankshaw, O. and D. Hindson (1990), “Class differentiation under apartheid”, in South African Labour Bulletin, 15(1).
Department of Finance South Africa (1996), Growth Employment and Redistribution (GEAR), Pretoria.
ECLAC (2002), Growth with Stability, CEPAL books, Santiago.
Edwards, L. (1999), “Trade Liberalisation, Structural Change and Occupational Employment in South Africa”, paper presented at TIPS Annual Forum. www.tips.org.za
Eichengreen, B. (2000), “Taming capital flows”, World Development, 28 (6).
Ffrench-Davis, R. (2005), Reforming Latin Americas’ Economies: After Market Fundamentalism, Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Ffrench-Davis, R. and L. Villar (2005), “Real macroeconomic stability and the capital account in Chile and Colombia”, in this volume.
Gelb, S. (1998), “The Political Economy of Macroeconomic Reform in South Africa”, Conference on The Political Economy of Reform in South Africa, University of Cape Town. www.tips.org.za
Gelb, S. (2001), “Socio-political risk, confidence and firm investment in South Africa”, paper for CSAE/UNIDO Workshop on New Industrial Realities and Firm Behaviour in Africa, Oxford.
Gelb, S. (2003), “Addressing Inequality in South Africa: Nature, Causes and Responses”, Seminar on Addressing Inequality in Middle Income Countries, UK Development for International Development, London.
Gelb, S. and A. Black (2004a), “South African case studies”, in S. Estrin and K. Meyer (eds.), Investment Strategies in Emerging Markets, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK.
Gelb, S. and A. Black (2004b), “Globalisation in a middle-income economy: FDI, production and the labour market in South Africa”, in W. Milberg (ed.), Labor and the Globalization of Production, Macmillan, London.
Hoogeveen, J. and B. Ozler (2004), “Not separate, not equal: Poverty and inequality in post-apartheid South Africa”, mimeo, World Bank.
International Labour Organisation (ILO) (1999), Studies on the social dimensions of globalization: South Africa, Geneva.
IMF (1997), South Africa: Selected Issues, Staff Country Report 97/82.
IMF (2004a), International Financial Statistics http://www.imf.org, accessed March 20.
IMF (2004b), South Africa: Selected Issues, Staff Country Report 04/379.
Jenkins, C. and N. Siwisa (1997), “Overview of trade policy in South Africa”, paper presented at TIPS Annual Forum. www.tips.org.za
Kaplan, D. (2003), “Manufacturing Performance and Policy in South Africa: A Review”, paper presented at TIPS Annual Forum. www.tips.org.za
Levy, B. (1992), “How can South African manufacturing efficiently create employment? An analysis of the impact of trade and industrial policy”, World Bank informal discussion papers on aspects of the South African economy, 1.
Lewis, J. D. (2001), “Policies to promote growth and employment in South Africa”, World Bank informal discussion papers on aspects of the South African economy, 16.
Manuel, T. (2002), “Closing remarks to the Commission of Inquiry into the Rapid Depreciation of the Exchange Rate of the Rand”, May 24, National Treasury http://www.finance.gov.za.
Mboweni, T. (2004), “Announcement regarding the Foreign Forward Exchange Book”, South African Reserve Bank media release 2004–03-01 http://www.reservebank.co.za.
National Treasury, South Africa (2004), Budget Review, Pretoria.
Nattrass, N. (2003), “The state of the economy: A crisis of employment”, in J. Daniel, A. Habib and R. Southall (eds.), The State of the Nation: South Africa, 2003–2004, HSRC Press, Cape Town.
Obstfeld, M. (1998), “The global capital market: benefactor or menace?”, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 12(4).
Presidency, South Africa (2003), Towards a Ten Year Review: Synthesis Report on Implementation of Government Programmes, Discussion Document, Pretoria.
Prinsloo, J. W. (2002), “Household debt, wealth and saving”, Quarterly Bulletin, 226, South African Reserve Bank.
Ros, J. (2001), “From the capital surge to the financial crisis and beyond: The Mexican economy in the 1990s”, in R. Ffrench-Davis (ed.), Financial Crises in “Successful” Emerging Economies, Brookings Institution/ECLAC, Washington, DC.
South African Reserve Bank (2003), Quarterly Bulletin 229, Pretoria.
South African Reserve Bank (2004), Online Statistical and Economic Time Series http://www.reservebank.co.za.
South African Revenue Service (1998), Annual Report, Pretoria.
South African Revenue Service (2003), Annual Report, Pretoria.
Stals, C. (1994), “Governor’s address at the ordinary general meeting of share-holders”, SA Reserve Bank, Pretoria.
Stals, C. (1995), “Governor’s address at the ordinary general meeting of share-holders”, SA Reserve Bank, Pretoria.
Stals, C. (1996), “Governor’s address at the ordinary general meeting of share-holders”, SA Reserve Bank, Pretoria.
Stals, C. (1998), “Governor’s address at the ordinary general meeting of share-holders”, SA Reserve Bank, Pretoria.
Statistics SA (2004), Labour Force Survey, Statistical release P0210, March.
UNCTAD (2003), World Investment Report, Geneva.
Van der Berg, S. (2001), “Trends in Racial Fiscal Incidence in South Africa”, South African Journal of Economics, 69: 2.
World Bank (2003), Global Development Finance 2003: Striving for Stability in Development Finance, Washington, DC.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2006 Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Gelb, S. (2006). Macroeconomics in Post-Apartheid South Africa: Real Growth versus Financial Stability. In: Ffrench-Davis, R. (eds) Seeking Growth Under Financial Volatility. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230523036_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230523036_6
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-54538-4
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-52303-6
eBook Packages: Palgrave Economics & Finance CollectionEconomics and Finance (R0)