SALDRU Co-Hosts Economic Transformation Workshop with South African Council of Churches

SALDRU co-hosted a full day workshop on Economic Transformation with the South African Council of Churches (SACC), as part of the National Convention of South Africa, an initiative of the SACC in collaboration with a wide range of civil society organisations.

The event took place on 24 May 2018 at the University of Cape Town. The National Convention of South Africa’s Moagisi Sibanda and the SACC’s Bishop M. Mpumlwana opened the workshop with inputs that informed the discussion on the day.

The SACC established the National Convention of South Africa, an initiative aimed at building public consensus on the value positions and standards that should inform policy to meet the requirements of life and governance enshrined in the rights culture of the South African Constitution. It emphasises four thematic areas:

  • Anchoring Democracy
  • Healing and Reconciliation
  • Economic Transformation
  • Comprehensive Quality Education
Some of the attendees at the workshop from left to right, Pooven Moodley, Neil Coleman, Bishop M. Mpumlwana, Nomboniso Gasa, Andrew Donaldson and Charmaine Smith.

This workshop on Economic Transformation sought to deepen and concretise thinking on the values, standards and potential policy objectives around which think pieces, position papers and policy recommendations should be developed, for sharing at the thematic conferences that are scheduled for the month of June.

The Economic Transformation focus area is broken into six sub-themes:

  • Financialisation of the SA economy: financial Markets; Auditing and integrating economic pursuits of poor families and communities
  • Land use and spatial application: spatial planning & integration; economic asset transfer
  • Food security: household level food securing, access to food
  • Regional economic integration (SACU, SADC, COMESA): Integrated planning from a value chain perspective
  • Strengthening the South African green economy: ecological sustainability
  • Youth Economic Participation: building an entrepreneurial ecosystem
  • Nature of the state from an economic perspective: focus on the role of state pools of capital (IDC, DBSA, NEF)