AN EVALUATION OF INDUSTRIAL POLICY PERSPECTIVES IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN CONTEXT

SUGGESTED NEXT STEP

Countries occupy different positions in the world economy, and governments function from different positions of power. Yet, our case studies have shown that there remains significant scope for industrial policy to shape processes of industrial restructuring. A key area of concern in the context of globalisation is how national economies are 'inserted' into global commodity chains. South Africa's manufacturing industry has not been able to build a downstream economy of scope and scale on the benefits provided by a minerals-rich context. An important step would be to develop a better understanding of how trade liberalisation and other macro-economic changes have impacted on the South African industrial structure - i.e., the extractive, beneficiation, manufacturing, retail and service sectors have to be analysed in relation to each other. But such an analysis has to take seriously the fact that commodity chains operate trans-nationally.

There appears to be a growing convergence of interests since the job summit in 1998 around the need for a more active role for government in industrial development, particularly with a view to job creation. It is evident that such an approach requires concrete inputs from all social partners. The areas which could be built on are:

• Links between the sector summits and specific industrial policy measures addressing specific needs of sectors.
• A regional analysis of the sector development across the SADC countries. This applied to heavy industry such as Mozal as well as the development of the clothing and textiles sectors to maximise the potential gains from AGOA.
• An understanding of the role of key institutions such as the IDC in building strong capabilities in downstream manufacturing sectors.
• Measures to strengthen overall South African value chains to build competitiveness and create jobs.
• Draw on the existing sector specific research to understand the development dynamic.

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