Current News
The latest news for the Development Policy Research Unit. Please go to the archive for older news articles.

The INSETA-UCT Research Chair is seeking applications from Honours, Masters and Doctoral students in any field whose research is of relevance and interest to South Africa’s Insurance Sector.

The DPRU and the Insurance Sector Education and Training Authority (INSETA) are looking for suitably qualified and experienced black (i.e. African, Coloured, Indian) South Africans, to make two Junior Research Fellow appointments on either a PhD or a Master’s track, to start as soon as possible, until the end of March 2022.
Prof. Haroon Bhorat, DPRU Director, recently presented at the "Lockdown Economics: Will the Economic Recovery Plan Work?" webinar, hosted by The Brenthurst Foundation and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.
Authored by Haroon Bhorat, Morné Oosthuizen and Ben Stanwix, this new DPRU working paper emphasises that social assistance to mitigate the consequences of Covid-19 should not be viewed necessarily as a standard poverty reduction exercise, but rather as an attempt to mitigate Covid-related income shocks for the vulnerable who were most negatively affected by the pandemic.

Prof. Ravi Kanbur presented a memorable TB Davie Memorial Lecture yesterday, on ‘Economic Inequality and Academic Freedom’. Nominated to be this year's speaker by Prof. Haroon Bhorat, DPRU Director, Ravi (who is a long-time research collaborator of the Unit, and a prolific co-author too), focused on the role of economic resources in determining opportunities in academic education and research, i.e. freedom in the positive sense.
Authored by Haroon Bhorat and Tim Köhler, a new NIDS-CRAM Wave 1 Working Paper being published today, is titled "Covid-19, social protection, and the labour market in South Africa. Are social grants being targeted at the most vulnerable?".
Development of Public Sector Furniture Technical Procurement Guideline/Specification for South Africa
Inviting bids to conduct a research study on the Reporting by Business on Executive Pay Ratios.
Inviting bids to establish future-proof approaches to job creation in the primary agricultural sector in line with the National Development Plan targets.
Call for applications: Appointment of a Panel of pre-qualified researchers & related professionals to provide consultancy services to the Inclusive Growth Programme (IGP).
Authored by Haroon Bhorat, Tim Köhler, Morné Oosthuizen, Ben Stanwix, François Steenkamp and Amy Thornton, this new working paper brings together a set of early impressions on the economics of the pandemic in South Africa, focused on several areas that are of key concern.

Prof. Haroon Bhorat, DPRU Director, has been invited to participate as a guest speaker in the first Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) in partnership with Kaya FM 95.9 podcast which will focus on the COVID-19 pandemic and “Economic Justice”, live this Wednesday, 13 May 2020 @ 10am.