This Report documents the research findings, as well as the emerging issues that participants identified as being critical for the future work around a Decent Standard of Living (DSL) in South Africa.

This report seeks to consolidate existing knowledge of SPNs and the policy formation dynamics in South Africa in order to argue for government programmes that take into account the needs of its citizens including dignified livelihoods.

This issue of the ESR Review features Hannah Dawson’s examination of new methodologies and tools for measuring,
monitoring and evaluating the progressive realisation of socioeconomic rights, and Charles Lwanga-Ntale’s analysis of the barriers to social protection uptake in East Africa. Updates are provided on recent developments on socio-economic rights in Africa and at the United Nations.

As we concentrate national initiatives on Covid-19 recovery, the systemic eradication of poverty must be the greatest priority, or reconstruction will not succeed. This lies at the heart of the Decent Standard of Living research, and other recent national poverty studies. In the Fifth Annual DSL Colloquium 2020, we ask: how will poverty shape our future in SA?

The analysis is in four parts: the first is an exploration of the background to the EPWP, in its role as South Africa’s largest active labour market policy; the second presents an examination of aspects of the performance of EPWP Phase 1, looking in particular at target vs. actual numbers of job opportunities and training days. The third considers aspects of the vast increases in the scope of EPWP from Phase 1 to Phase 2, of the way in which these have been communicated, and of the way in which they are to be funded, while fourth the looks at the possible contribution that this second phase could/may make to the goal of halving unemployment by 2014.