Working paper No 3: Literature review and policy synopsis of the “Social Wage” in South Africa

Unusually for a society undergoing such a recent democratic transition the South African policy environment reflects high levels of comparability to, and many topical issues are shared with, high income, democratic societies and. The sophistication of the policy and legislative framework, would, taken by itself, suggest a highly evolved and entrenched “social compact” in South Africa. A people centered public administration, an obligation to promote administrative justice, equality and fairness, justiciable commitments in the Constitution to progressively realize second-generation socio-economic rights are examples were South Africa’s policy framework is well in advance of many countries in the world.