The Community Work Programme (CWP) has been based in the Department of Cooperative Governance (DCoG) since April 2010. In the 12 months to March 2011, 89 689 people participated in the programme putting in 5 449 376 workdays. A total of R307 million was paid in wages, and the CWP had a massive impact on communities in 56 sites all over South Africa.

As well as these nationally-funded sites, six sites were funded by the Gauteng Provincial Government, with a further 7 164 participants. The Employment Creation Fund of the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) also funded the CWP Watershed Services River Cleaning Project, employing an additional 2 326 people. This brings total participation in the CWP to more than 99 000.

The CWP was started as a pilot project in late 2007. It was initiated as part of a strategy process commissioned by the South African Presidency and located in Trade and Industrial Strategy Projects (TIPS). This strategy process culminated with a framework document, Second Economy Strategy: Addressing Inequality and Economic Marginalisation, approved by Cabinet in January 2009. It was also included in full in the final report of AsgiSA (Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa) in April 2009.

This strategy framework emphasises the need for structural change to deliver sustainable jobs in the South African economy – but it also recognises that this will take time, and that a complementary strategy is needed to enable economic participation by those excluded from employment. In this context, the strategy framework calls for the adaptation of the concept of a minimum employment guarantee to South African conditions –with the CWP as an example of how this could be done.

The CWP pilot programme was supported by The Presidency and the Department of Social Development, which constituted a National Steering Committee to provide strategic oversight to the programme. The National Steering Committee was expanded in 2009 to include representatives from the Department of Public Works, DCoG and National Treasury. The pilot phase and further roll-out of the programme was project managed by TIPS in partnership with two Implementing Agents, Seriti Institute and Teba Development.

Much of the focus of 2010/2011 has been on institutionalising the different elements of the programme in DCoG.

DTI - Department of Trade and Industry

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GTAC - government Technical Advisory Centre

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City of Johannesburg

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TIPS’s central activities are economic research and analysis, dialogue facilitation on relevant economic issues, capacity building and project management. It undertakes research or projects either on a commissioned basis (funded by an external partner) or as in-house thought leadership (funded internally). A portion of TIPS’s core funding is provided by the Department of Trade and Industry.

TIPS research and analysis draws on its own as well as a network expertise in the fields of industrial development, trade, inequality, green economy, electricity and mining as well as a number of industry subsectors.

As part of its dialogue work TIPS organises regular Development Dialogue Seminars and the TIPS Annual Forum. Having built up experience of running over 15 economic conferences over the past 20 years, TIPS can also be contracted to organise economic conferences for other organisations.

As part of its capacity building work, TIPS runs over 10 training workshops for individuals and groups on economic related issues. These workshops draw on a number of experts in their field. TIPS co-facilitates the annual African Programme on Rethinking Development Economics (APORDE) programme, and co-hosts a number of seminars with APORDE.

TIPS’s main strengths are:

• Its technical capacity especially for economic analysis and research;
• Its understanding of the policy environment in government and its ability to facilitate dialogue on key economic issues at a high level within and outside of government;
• Its ability to provide research, analysis, dialogue and capacity building services under one roof in a continuous and seamless process.

This allows the organisation to assist partners and beneficiaries at all stages of a policy life cycle and to participate in forward-looking thinking and future agenda setting.

TIPS’s work is backed by support services that allow for flexible, high-quality administration of complex programme management, large rolling budgets and extensive monitoring, evaluation and reporting requirements. TIPS’s support processes have specific experience in dealing with governmental and donor agency contracting.

TIPS@25 and beyond: A celebration of 25 years of support for policy development through research and dialogue

This anniversary publication celebrates and reflects on TIPS and its 25 year history. TIPS, like the country, has evolved significantly over the past 25 years. It looks at the organisation's journey, the people involved over the years, as well as its current role and future challenges, with messages from board members and staff.

CHAPTERS INCLUDE:

1991-1995: The early years

1996-2002 The Trade and Industrial Policy Secretariat gets going

2003-2008: TIPS faces changing terrain

2009-2013: TIPS seeks to refocus to survive

2014-2021 Growth and consolidation

Download a copy or read online: TIPS@25 and beyond 

Neva Makgetla has undertaken extensive research into South African economic issues, published widely, and contributed to a number of national economic policy processes and debates from 1994. Until 2015, she was Deputy Director General for economic policy in the Economic Development Department. Before that, she was Lead Economist for the Development Planning and Implementation Division at the Development Bank of Southern Africa. She has worked at a senior level in the Presidency and other government departments, and for seven years was head of the COSATU Policy Unit. She has a PhD in economics and before 1994 worked for over 10 years as an economics lecturer.

The industry contributed 0,8% of total manufacturing production in the third quarter of 2015, with its share remaining fairly constant from 2010.

Production fell by 3,7% from third quarter 2013 to the third quarter of 2015, compared to an increase of 11% from the third quarter of 2010 to the third quarter of 2013. From the second to the third quarter, production rose by 1,1%.

Employment was 45 000 in the third quarter of 2015, around the same as five years earlier. The figure is too small for most reported changes to be statistically significant.

Capacity utilisation rose in the past quarter, from 76,6% in the second quarter of 2015 to 77,3% in the third quarter. It had however been reported at 90% two years earlier, in the third quarter of 2013.

The most up-to-date trade data do not provide separate figures for furniture.