What Holds Us Together

Social cohesion in South Africa

Lauretta Ngcobo’s death in November 2015 robbed South Africa and the African continent of a significant literary talent, freedom fighter, and feminist voice. Born in 1931 in Ixopo in the then Natal Province, South Africa Ngcobo was one of three pioneering black South African women writers – the first to publish novels in English from the particular vantage point of black women.

This directory provides a comprehensive overview of the southern African Development Community's (SADC) development role-players. More than 5 000 organisations are listed including government departments, parastatals, research institutions, business organisations, corporate social investment programmes, NGOs, CBOs, training institutions, local and international donor agencies, United Nations agencies and diplomatic representation in southern Africa.

Covering a breadth if issues, the international developement specialists who have contributed to this volume significantly deepen our understanding of the key socio-economic issues in the first decade of South Africa's democratic Governance.

Locating the South African challenges within a broader international perspective, the issues covered include all the major economic growth challenges confronting South Africa - employment, industrial policy, urban governance, the informal economy - and the social challenges of poverty , inequality, HIV/AIDS and health policy. The key development debates of the post-apartheid era are outlined and the success or otherwise of a decade of reform and experimentation is considered.

What does it take for entrepreneurs to be effective competitors? What are the factors affecting entry and participation in sectors where there are historically strong incumbent firms? Opening the South African Economy brings to light the challenges of concentration, inequality and exclusion in different sectors of the South African economy.