ITC ILO: Strengthening the employment impact of South Africa’s industrial policies
The Department of Trade, Industry, and Competition (dtic) plays a crucial role in providing leadership on South Africa’s trade policy, promoting economic growth and development, industrial upgrading and diversification, and poverty reduction through sustainable employment and job creation.
One area where improvements to the current context is needed is the regular monitoring of employment creation in key sectors. As part of the master plans, the Government commits to providing a set of fiscal and financial incentives, which may include tax concessions (foregone revenue), grants, or preferential financing. The expectation is that beneficiaries of these measures will invest and create jobs. Monitoring investment and employment trends is vital to ensure compliance with the commitments made about these incentives, or for the adaptation and improvement of the sectoral plans.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) aimed to support the dtic in enhancing its monitoring functions within the context of its broader monitoring and sectoral intelligence work. To this end, Mthente Research and Consulting Services was appointed by the International Training Centre Of The International Labour Organisation (ICTILO) to strengthen the employment impact of South Africa’s industrial policies. The primary objective of the report was to provide a baseline appraisal of the dtic’s Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) system. This included assessing the current data sources used by the dtic, their compatibility with relevant standards and requirements, and whether the M&E system aligns with best practices. The report examined how various data points and sources are consolidated to form a coherent understanding of employment trends, identifying any existing gaps or bottlenecks in the current system, and assessing the system’s adaptability to emerging industrial trends and policy shifts.
An M&E appraisal was conducted to assess the effectiveness of the dtic’s M&E system in measuring employment outcomes within the automotive and Retail–Clothing, Textile, Footwear, and Leather (R-CTFL) sectors. This assessment was informed by a desktop review of documents. Online engagements were also held with dtic personnel to gain an understanding of the monitoring and evaluation system. The M&E appraisal process evaluated the dtic system based on Otundo’s (2019) twelve primary components for effective and efficient M&E systems and followed the ILO template for evaluability reviews. This included examining internal logic and assumptions, the quality of indicators, baselines, targets, milestones, the feasibility of means of verification/measurement and methods, human and financial resources, and stakeholder engagement.
To improve the M&E system, a technical workshop was held to validate the appraisal of its M&E system. This workshop also facilitated the co-designing of a roadmap for the M&E system in collaboration with dtic staff and key stakeholders from the Department of Employment and Labour and Productivity SA.
