Presentations
Dr Kate Philip (Presidential Employment Stimulus): Taking public employment to the next level of impact
Zak Essa (Presidential Employment Stimulus): Livelihood pathways from public employment
Bhavanesh Parbhoo (IDC): Social employment fund
Duma Gqubule (Independent Economist): Vision 2035 A plan to achieve full employment in South Africa
About the Speakers
Dr Saul Levin (Chairperson) is the Executive Director of TIPS. He has worked at a senior level in several government departments, at Standard Bank, and in enterprise development.
Dr Kate Philip is a development strategist, focused on employment creation. This includes not only her current focus on public employment programmes (PEPs), but many years focused on rural and township enterprise development also. She currently heads the Presidential Employment Stimulus, which has supported the creation of over two million jobs and livelihood opportunities in PEPs since its inception in 2020, in partnership with over 15 government departments. Her previous work in support of PEPs has included support to the Government of Greece at the height of the Greek crisis, through the ILO. She is also the author of ‘Markets on the Margins: Mineworkers, Job Creation and Enterprise Development’, reflecting on her experiences supporting enterprise development in South Africa’s mining communities – rural and urban.
Zak Essa is a programme analyst supporting the Presidential Employment Stimulus and a PhD candidate at the London School of Economics. His work focuses on two questions: how social protection can create sustainable pathways out of poverty, and how it might respond to mounting climate challenges.
Bhavanesh Parbhoo is an experienced development financier who has worked within the Industrial Development Corporation for the last 10 years. In this time he managed commercial and development investments into a number of sectors including the media and tech industries. His current role sees him head up the Social Employment Fund - a programme within the Presidential Employment Stimulus which creates and supports employment for 50,000 individuals annually. Bhavanesh is a Chartered Accountant by qualification and holds an MBA from GIBS.
Duma Gqubule (Discussant) is a columnist and independent economist. Duma has spent the past two decades as a financial journalist, analyst, advisor and consultant on issues of economic development and transformation.