Abstract
M.Com. (Economics)
The objective of this thesis is to describe the nature of the South
African economic system for the period 1970-1985 in macroeconomic
terms. As an introduction to the specific analysis of the South
African economic system, the author also discusses the socio-economic
nature of economic systems per see Based on an identification- and
classification framework which was developed as a result of a
literature survey in this regard, the author made extensive use of
the Quarterly Bulletins of the South African Reserve Bank and the
South African Statistical Service's two-yearly publication of
collective South African statistics in order to analyse the nature
and extent of the most important macroeconomic variables in the South
African economy.
As a resu 1t of the macroeconomic analysis, the author came to a
number of conclusions regarding the South African economic system
during the period 1970-1985. The conclusions were, inter alia:
The South African economic system could best be described as a mixed
economy in which the Government played a substantial and increasingly
important role in terms of its contribution to the GDP and other
important macroeconomic variables. Although South Africa experienced
an average increase in its real GDP of approximately 2,6% per year,
the country had an average yearly population growth of 2,8% during
the relevant period, with the result that the real per capita GOP in
1985 was lower than the corresponding 1970 figure. It should also be
noted that the GOP declined in real terms for the first time in fifty
years between 1981 and 1983 and between 1984 and 1985.
Other meaningful conclusions concerned the drastic decline in the
purchasing power of the Rand, the substantial influence of the
foreign sector of the economy, the disparity between the average
compensation packages for the White and Nonwhite subgroups of the
population, the changing importance of the different sectors of the
economy in terms of their contribution to the GOP and other economic
variables, an increase in the percentage of women who were active in
the economy during this period, the poor performance of the multi input
index of productivity, sharp fluctuations in company savings
and a greater reliance on passive forms of business income.