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South Africa: the challenge of social development
Author(s) -
Midgley James
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
international journal of social welfare
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1468-2397
pISSN - 1369-6866
DOI - 10.1111/1468-2397.00183
Subject(s) - summit , economic growth , government (linguistics) , social change , white paper , political science , social welfare , development aid , welfare , development economics , economics , geography , law , linguistics , philosophy , physical geography
Following South Africa's transition from apartheid to majority rule, the country's new government declared its intention to implement a macro‐development approach, known as the Reconstruction and Development Programme, which would promote economic growth and, at the same time, raise the standards of living of the country's impoverished majority. This programme was accompanied by the publication of a White Paper on developmental social welfare. Both give expression to social development ideas which had previously been popular in international circles and which were being resurrected by the 1995 United Nations World Summit. This article discusses South Africa's engagement with social development and examines the challenges facing its attempts to implement this approach. The lessons learned from South Africa's experience of formulating and implementing social development policies and programmes can inform similar efforts elsewhere