Neo-liberalisme, ekonomiese groei, ongelykheid en armoedeverligting in Suid-Afrika : 'n evaluering

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:The goal of this thesis was to evaluate the success of neo-liberalism in South Africa, withspecific reference to the capacity of the policy to eradicate poverty and reduce inequality.The dispute about the aptness of nee-liberalism in South Africa also relates to the broaderdebate concerning the success of neo-liberalism in creating economic growth to thebenefit of all members of society. A qualitative analysis of the research and divergingopinions with regards to neo-liberalism was used to derive an objective framework forthe evaluation of economic policy. This framework was then used as the basis of anevaluation of the success of neo-liberalism in South Africa.It was found that neo-liberalism is generally successful in the generation of economicgrowth with the capacity to address poverty, and that the implementation of neo-liberalpolicies does not necessarily lead to an increase in inequality. It was, however, alsoproven that there are specific cases in which neo-liberalism is not successful. It wastherefore argued that the continuation of neo-liberal policies in South Africa cannot bejustified on the grounds of the success of the policy in the global context. Seeing as thesuccess of the policy seems to be context specific, it was argued that evaluations of thepolicy should have the same context specific basis.Since South Africa's political transition ID 1994, neo-liberalism has gradually beenestablished as the foundation of economic policy. The success of neo-liberalism in SouthAfrica was therefore evaluated through an analysis of the changes in the levels of povertyand inequality in the country since this transition. It was found that very little progresshas been made in the reduction of inequality, that poverty has increased and that SouthAfrica's Human Development Index (as an indication of the success of developmentpolicy) has decreased since 1994.It was therefore concluded that neo-liberalism in South-Africa is not successful, and thatit is thus necessary to identify an alternative framework for the eradication of poverty andreduction of inequality in the country.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University