SA policies need some jacking up

South Africa is one of the most unequal societies in the world. More than 50% of the population live in poverty, despite notable gains in poverty reduction post-apartheid.

The government has committed itself to addressing poverty, inequality and social exclusion as laid out in the constitution and its National Development Plan.

But do the country’s laws, policies and strategy documents show exactly how this will be tackled?

Researchers at the Centre for Social Development in Africa explored how policy makers and legislators faced these challenges in drafting their documents. We reviewed 501 legislative, policy and strategy documents, covering education, health, safety and security, economic growth and employment, skills, infrastructure, rural development, human settlements and social cohesion.

We reviewed each document to determine the number of references to poverty, inequality, social exclusion, gender, race, disability, youth unemployment and spatial inequality.

Our findings reveal that there is at least some engagement with it, but it’s inconsistent.

We found that 10% of legislative documents and more than half of all policy and strategy documents mentioned poverty, inequality, social exclusion, gender, race, disability and spatial disparities at least once.

The social protection sector showed the highest average number of references to poverty (58), inequality (70) and social exclusion (116) in its documents. The public service sector showed the lowest number of references.

More references don’t mean deeper engagement with these issues. References must explain how they affect each law and policy and also offer strategic interventions.

Some sectors do take this holistic approach. In the health sector, for example, the Breast Cancer Control Policy identifies transport as a constraint to accessing health services.

Policies matter and can make a real difference. But on their own they are insufficient. They must be implemented. Change happens through stakeholders and processes.

More needs to be done.

The Conversation

Plagerson is senior research fellow at the Centre for Social Development in Africa, University of Johannesburg

More references don’t mean deeper engagement with these issues.