South African courts have been reluctant ‘to step into the shoes of the regulator’. But the confirmation by the Constitutional Court of the ruling by the Supreme Court of Appeal has changed all that.
A gas-fired power station will be a cheaper option for Eskom than its current diesel plant.
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South Africa’s policymakers see a greater role for liquefied natural gas in the country’s energy mix, reduce the country’s over-reliance on coal and drive re-industrialisation.
A Kenyan women removes maize from husks.
EPA/Stephen Morrison
Though formed by the state, Eskom and Iscor enjoyed very little state support in their infancy. To survive, they had to cooperate with the private sector companies they were meant to compete with.
There’s a perception among young South Africans that farm jobs are back-breaking and financially unappealing.
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South Africans may well be seduced by the prospect of Zuma appearing at the Zondo commission, but he was not alone in driving the state capture project.
An electronic toll gantry on a Johannesburg highway.
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South Africa’s economic reforms of the 1990s were overdone, destroying some industries and thus impacting economic growth and job creation. A re-balancing of industrial policy is called for.
Kenyan women hold a vigil for victims of violence.
Dai Kurokawa/EPA
A fast growing economy that creates jobs will not automatically reduce youth unemployment due to systemic barriers faced by young people, including skills shortages and malfunctioning labour markets.
Giving young people financial skills can lead to much better education and job outcomes.
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Arming young people with financial capabilities does improve their employment prospects, but how exactly is still not clear. One possibility is that financial literacy boosts their confidence
The price of bread has been one of the drivers of inflation in South Africa.
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Most South Africans think prices are rising much faster than is actually the case. This makes the central bank’s job of managing inflation expectations much harder.
Henry Rotich - Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury
EPA/DANIEL IRUNGU
Some areas of concern remain. These include the mobilisation of local resources, reduction of the fiscal deficit and stabilisation of the national debt.
Inequality in South Africa derives from settler colonialism. The country is incredibly unequal.
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Inequality persists in post-apartheid South Africa, reflecting the distribution of power. Reversing this will require changing the social processes and relations that underpin it.
South Africa has seen a steady rise in the number of protests
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Paid employment is no longer a guarantee that workers will earn enough to cover their basic needs and become relatively secure financially. Hence the global phenomenon of the working poor.
Women in Soweto said going out in exercise clothes made them vulnerable to harassment and assault.
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It’s not enough to simply promote healthy eating and exercise without considering the very real environmental and structural constraints present in South Africa.