The South African Civil Society Information Service
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
Ebrahim-Khalil Hassen is the founder of Zapreneur and Proposal Desk. Each of these websites are aimed at answering this question – Can the Internet help South African small business?
Ebrahim-Khalil started his career at the Gauteng Provincial Government, where he was the manager of the Vusani Amadolobha Grant Fund, which was South Africa’s first public-private partnership fund for urban renewal. The theme of public service reform saw him join the National Labour and Economic Development Institute (NALEDI), a research non-governmental organisation established by the Congress of South African Trade Unions.
From 2007 to 2009, he worked part-time at the Centre for Poverty, Employment and Growth at the Human Sciences Research Council building proposals for employment creation in the public service. In 2011, Zapreneur was launched. As an independent public policy analyst, his clients have included TIPS, NALEDI and the Department of Economic Development. He currently serves on the board of the South African Labour Bulletin, and is a member of the COSATU Economics Panel.
Ebrahim-Khalil Hassen -
Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene, in his inaugural budget speech, offers this piece of wisdom, “The challenge of governance is to choose wisely between competing alternatives.” This takeaway statement is as true of Minister Nene’s inaugural budget speech, as it is about each of his predecessors. However, underlying these choices is deep polarisation in South Africa.
On the one hand, mainstream commentators from financial institutions are praising a lower than expected...
Ebrahim-Khalil Hassen -
Have we reached the end of the road for redistribution in South Africa? Recent publications by the World Bank and the South African Communist Party (SACP) suggest that the time for redistribution may well be over. The oddness of the pairing - usually with different ideological stances - is remarkable in itself, but the underlying logic for reaching the conclusion is even more remarkable.
The policy recommendation is similar. After a strong focus on expanding services, South Africa must now...
Ebrahim-Khalil Hassen -
How do we measure the performance of the South African budget? The message from Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene’s inaugural Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement suggests dual objectives.
Minister Nene has cut the expenditure ceiling and capped spending on items such as advertising, travel expenses, catering and consultants. Balancing the books sensibly and attempting to ensure effective use of public monies will encourage investor confidence and also pay for the salaries and equipment...
Ebrahim-Khalil Hassen -
Presidents’ relish shorthand descriptions of the agenda they are implementing. In Jacob Zuma’s first term of office, the term “faster change” played that role. Bureaucrats and politicians quickly took up this term not merely to demonstrate loyalty to a newly installed President, but also because many in public service valued a commitment to accelerating change. The term however faded from usage, buried in inaccessible policies and procedures, and the absence of a...
Ebrahim-Khalil Hassen -
The African National Congress has recently launched its Imvuselelo (Revival) Campaign. At the launch, President Jacob Zuma indicated it means a “back to basics campaign”. The campaign aims to reconnect with voters and drive membership. The campaign requires new members to swear an oath that they did not join the ANC to advance personal material interests and for branches to conduct community work each Friday.
Iterations of this campaign using the same name have been around...
Ebrahim-Khalil Hassen -
South Africans of all stripes often lament the general lack of entrepreneurial success and limited support for its development in the country. So when President Jacob Zuma created a new small business ministry, the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD), soon after entering his second term in office, the news was well received all round. The new ministry has its work cut out for it, but its minister, Lindiwe Zulu, appears confident that it will be up and running and producing...
