Critical perspectives on the Motor Industry Development Programme as a post-apartheid industrial policy instrument
Date
2015-01-29
Authors
Nkunzi, Sibulele
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Abstract
The South African automotive industry, which for a long period was inward-looking and
isolated from the global environment, is now fully integrated into the global automotive
industry. Between 1995 and 2012, the government subsidised the South African automotive
industry with the aim of building its global competitiveness through the Motor Industry
Development Programme (MIDP). The Purpose of this study was to critically evaluate the
MIDP as an industrial policy instrument to enhance the global competiveness of the South
African automotive industry. A knowledge base in the form of a theoretical framework was
created, focusing on the neoclassical vis-à-vis the structuralist understanding of industrial
policy and the role of the state in development. This was followed by a literature review
which problematized the industrial and economic policies that have shaped the path of
industrialisation in South Africa, as well as their subtle influences on the automotive industry
policy. An overview of the MIDP and its instruments as well as the critical evaluation of the
performance of MIDP against its objectives was done.
The study shows the results have been particularly disappointing with respect to employment,
the development of domestic supplier industries and the attraction of manufacturing
capabilities and competencies linked to learning. The findings suggest that limitations of
government enforcement of reciprocal control mechanisms (RCMs) on original equipment
manufacturers (OEMs); the state-labour-industry institutional arrangements in the policy
process; as well as the subtle influences of neoliberal policies and weak governmental
capacities at the Department of Trade and Industry, explain the disappointing results of the
MIDP.
Description
Thesis (M.Com. (Development Theory and Policy))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Economic and Business Sciences, 2014.