Key Points:
- A rethink of South Africa’s labour market is undertaken in this report by reviewing labour market regulations and institutions in Brazil, India, Malaysia and South Africa. .
- Unemployment is South Africa’s most pressing policy challenge, with a narrow unemployment rate of 25, 5 per cent in 2012.
- Transplanting the labour market policies of Brazil, India and Malaysia into South Africa is not feasible especially in the case of South Africa where the labour market is shaped by history.
- Reforming South Africa’s labour market requires addressing the many weaknesses built into the institutions governing the South African labour market.
- South Africa needs to effect reforms that make it easier for employers to hire unskilled, inexperienced workers at a cost that reflects their productivity.
