Reconstruction and Development Programme

Abstract: The Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) is the major policy initiative of the Government of National Unity (GNU) The RDP is an integrated, coherent socio-economic framework which attempts to integrate development, reconstruction, redistribution and reconciliation into a unified programmeThe aim of this paper is to assess the performance of the RDP in the first 18 months of GNU rule An overview is given of the RDP White Paper as well as the initial RDP projects, the Presidential Lead Projects (PLPs) This is followed by an evaluation of the performance of the RDP Specific attention is paid to institutional deficiencies, local government, community participation, centralization and budgetingThe paper concludes that although the RDP has not performed according to expectations, it is too soon to make a definitive evaluation However, there is heavy pressure on the government to deliver tangible benefits soon If this is not done the GNU's image will be badly tarnished

Abstract: The African National Congress (ANC) has long stood for a development policy committed to improving living conditions for black people in South Africa. Assuming power in 1994, the ANC adopted a leftist, basic-needs-oriented Reconstruction and Development Programme as the popular foundation for its economic policy. Within two years, the ANC had switched to a rightist, neoliberal Growth, Employment and Redistribution policy stressing privatization, deregulation, and trade liberalization. This article critically examines the displacement of economic policy from socialism to neoliberalism. My thesis is that ANC policy was disciplined by a neoliberal economic discourse formulated by an academic-institutional-media complex with linked centers of persuasion inside and outside the country. The article combines ideas about hegemony from Gramsci with notions of discourse derived from Foucault in constructing a geographic theory of globally hegemonic discursive formations colonizing alternative, counterhegemonic discourses.

Abstract: The African National Congress (ANC) government initiated the building of Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) housing units in order to provide housing to the previously disadvantaged and to address the severe housing backlog that has developed in South Africa in recent years. However, in spite of the good intentions, there has been profound criticism with regard to the inferior building standards and quality of these housing units, as well as the lack of services and amenities in these development projects. The research for this paper was conducted in 2008. The residents of the Braamfischerville area in Soweto were chosen as sample respondents. Aspects such as demographic data, monthly income and monthly expenses were ascertained for each household using a systematic questionnaire. The level of satisfaction with regard to specific housing attributes such as the house itself, windows, doors, the roof and so on was rated using a five-point Likert Scale and determined from interviews. It was also found that residents identified proximity to basic services and amenities as being Housing satisfaction and quality of life in RDP houses in Braamfischerville, Soweto: A South African case study

Abstract: Introduction Following the demise of apartheid and the transition to democracy in 1994, South Africa has sought reintegration into the global economy. Reintegration has followed the ending of years of isolation and the lifting of sanctions imposed by the international community against the apartheid regime. The democratic government also recognized that South Africa’s prospects for economic growth — essential to achieve the government’s objectives of redistribution and poverty elimination — were inexorably linked to the country’s ability to position itself within the global economy (Abedian and Biggs, 1998). When the African National Congress (ANC)-led government first came to power in 1994 the party’s manifesto and the government’s key policy document was the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) (African National Congress, 1994). The RDP sought to address the inequalities of apartheid and accelerate economic growth through government intervention in the economy. Rapid delivery of social goods, education, health care and housing were to be used as the basis to stimulate economic activity and job creation (Munslow and FitzGerald, 1997). By 1996 the RDP, while not abandoned as official government policy, was superceded by the Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) strategy as the government’s macro-economic framework. GEAR has been described by Nattrass as a neoclassical economic growth theory, with a Keynsian concern for investor confidence and an active and redistributive role for the state (Nattrass, 1999: 76). The switch from the RDP to GEAR represents a recognition of the inescapable influence of global economic forces as South Africa seeks to attract foreign investment and to promote exports (Pycroft, 1999). To be successful within the global economy, according to GEAR, requires a reduced budget deficit, marketoriented growth, fiscal discipline, labour-market flexibility and reduced government intervention — all of which reduce the government’s ability to influence poverty alleviation and income redistribution (Nattrass, 1999: 76–7). The results of the GEAR strategy to date have not been encouraging. Economic growth rates, job creation and inward investment have all been significantly lower than GEAR