South Africa

Resource abundance does not always bring sustained economic growth and development. Moreover, the mining sector generally provides little direct employment in the regions where extraction occurs. In an attempt to derive greater benefits from their resource endowments, and increase linkages with other parts of the economy, some minerals-rich countries have instituted local content and procurement policies (LCPs). The benefits sought include employment generation, supply chain development and technological and knowledge transfers. Measures that aim to increase local content and procurement in the extractive industries are common, including in many OECD countries.

This study examines local content policies in 10 minerals-rich countries and provides some observations about their efficacy and the desirability of their use. A wide range of measures are examined, from industry-wide, mandatory quantitative targets to voluntary initiatives undertaken at the firm level, encompassing diverse policy objectives and implementation strategies. The range of countries covered is broad including OECD countries, developing countries and least developed countries. The study does not recommend a “one size fits all” policy mix but guards against the distortions created by overly prescriptive, mandatory local content requirements.

Over the last two decades, South Africa has accomplished enormous social progress by bringing to millions of citizens access to key public services. Nevertheless, growth has trended down markedly recently due to constraints on the supply side. Low growth has led to the stagnation of GDP per capita, and persistent high unemployment and inequalities.

The economy faces many structural challenges while high inflation limits room for monetary policy support  and high public debt constrains public spending. South Africa needs structural reforms that would boost the potential of the economy, in particular, broadening competition, limiting the size and grip of state-owned enterprises on the economy, and improving the quality of the education system.

Greater regional integration could provide new opportunities for growth by expanding market size. South African firms are well placed to benefit from deeper integration. However, lowering tariffs and non-tariffs barriers on trade, developing regional infrastructure and harmonising regulations are needed to foster regional integration.
More entrepreneurs and thriving small businesses would contribute to inclusive growth and job creation. Barriers to entrepreneurship include bureaucratic procedures and licensing, which are also an ongoing burden on small firms. An education system that better equippes students with basic and entrepreneurial skills would grow the pipeline of entrepreneurs. A better evidence base is crucial for more effective financial and non-financial support programmes to boost start-up rates and small firms’ growth.

SPECIAL FEATURES: DEEPENING REGIONAL INTEGRATION; BOOSTING ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Gross domestic product (GDP) is the standard measure of the value of final goods and services produced by a country during a period minus the value of imports. This subset of Aggregate National Accounts comprises comprehensive statistics on gross domestic product (GDP) by presenting the three different approaches of its measure of GDP: output based GDP, expenditure based GDP and income based GDP. These three different measures of gross domestic product (GDP) are further detailed by transactions whereby: the output approach includes gross value added at basic prices, taxes less subsidies, statistical discrepancy; the expenditure approach includes domestic demand, gross capital formation, external balance of goods and services; and the income approach includes variables such as compensation of employees, gross operating surplus, taxes and production and imports. Gross domestic product (GDP) data are measured in national currency and are available in current prices, constant prices and per capita starting from 1950 onwards.

This paper provides an in-depth review of experiences and insights from mainstreaming biodiversity and development in South Africa. More specifically, it describes how biodiversity considerations have been mainstreamed in five key sectors/areas, namely: land use planning, mining, water, infrastructure, and the agricultural sector. It discusses the types of barriers and challenges that have been encountered, the key ingredients and lessons learned to help ensure more effective biodiversity mainstreaming, and the role of development co-operation in supporting in mainstreaming in South Africa. Examples of the key elements of success include good science, the ability to harness windows of opportunity, and ensuring genuine links to development objectives.

The health system in South Africa is unique in many ways. South Africa spends 41.8% of total health expenditures on private voluntary health insurance – more than any OECD country – but only 17% of the population – mostly high income citizens - can afford to purchase private insurance. Given the magnitude of private health expenditures, the activities in the private health care market have an important impact on the functioning of the health care system as a whole. Medical schemes (private health insurance) in South Africa mainly finance care that is predominantly delivered by private providers (i.e., private hospitals, specialists, general practitioners, pharmacies). Therefore, these schemes primarily finance an alternative to seeking care in the public sector and offer services that duplicate those available in the public sector.

Gross domestic product (GDP) is the standard measure of the value of final goods and services produced by a country during a period minus the value of imports. This subset of Aggregate National Accounts comprises comprehensive statistics on gross domestic product (GDP) by presenting the three different approaches of its measure of GDP: output based GDP, expenditure based GDP and income based GDP. These three different measures of gross domestic product (GDP) are further detailed by transactions whereby: the output approach includes gross value added at basic prices, taxes less subsidies, statistical discrepancy; the expenditure approach includes domestic demand, gross capital formation, external balance of goods and services; and the income approach includes variables such as compensation of employees, gross operating surplus, taxes and production and imports. Gross domestic product (GDP) data are measured in national currency and are available in current prices, constant prices and per capita starting from 1950 onwards.

 

This dataset comprises statistics on different transactions and balances to get from the GDP to the net lending/borrowing. It includes national disposable income (gross and net), consumption of fixed capital as well as net savings. It also includes transaction components such as net current transfers and net capital transfers. Data are expressed in millions of national currency as well as US dollars and available in both current and constant prices. Data are provided from 1950 onwards.

Reforms over the past two decades have produced a well-balanced, modern tax system. However, considerable revenues will be needed in the years ahead to expand social spending and infrastructure in order to raise growth and well-being. The challenge is to generate these revenues without penalising growth or exacerbating inequality. Income taxes represent around half of total tax revenue but are levied on small tax bases, partly reflecting the distribution of income. A revenue source less detrimental to growth is consumption taxes, which are mostly raised by the relatively broad value-added tax. Nonetheless, there is some scope to raise further revenue, particularly through broadening the base of these taxes further. Revenues from property taxation are currently limited by the inefficient municipal rates system, which does not function well. An important additional source of revenue is environmentally related taxes. In the design of the tax system, consideration should also be given to the appropriate taxation of the natural resources sector, which remains an important issue for a resource-rich country like South Africa.

This dataset includes pension funds statistics with OECD classifications by type of pension plans and by type of pension funds. All types of plans are included (occupational and personal, mandatory and voluntary). The OECD classification considers both funded and book reserved pension plans that are workplace-based (occupational pension plans) or accessed directly in retail markets (personal pension plans). Both mandatory and voluntary arrangements are included. The data includes plans where benefits are paid by a private sector entity (classified as private pension plans by the OECD) as well as those paid by a funded public sector entity. Data are presented in various measures depending on the variable: millions of national currency, millions of USD, thousands or unit.

This dataset comprises statistics pertaining to pensions indicators.It includes indicators such as occupational pension funds’asset as a % of GDP, personal pension funds’ asset as a % of GDP, DC pension plans’assets as a % of total assets. Pension fund and plan types are classified according to the OECD classification. Three dimensions cover this classification: pension plan type, definition type and contract type.

This report aims to provide an overview of business integrity and anti-bribery legislation, policies and practices applicable to state-owned enterprises (SOEs) operating across the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. Part 1 provides a rationale for considering the impact that corruption-prevention and business integrity measures have had in some jurisdictions, based on available academic literature on this subject. Part 2 summarises the framework in seven SADC countries for combating corruption and for encouraging responsible business practices. It also focuses on the application of this framework to SOEs by governments, as well as measures taken by SOEs to limit their exposure to the risks of corruption. The report was undertaken on behalf of the OECD Network on Corporate Governance of State-Owned Enterprises in Southern Africa and is based on voluntary responses to a questionnaire and supplemented with desk research.

This paper outlines the competitiveness of ports in Durban, south Africa. It looks at port performance, impact, and policies and governance issues.