This chapter argues that Sub-Saharan African (SSA) states have the potential to eradicate poverty through policy and innovations that target increased land and labour productivity. It also argues that it is necessary to understand the socio-economic ecology and context of a place in order to appreciate the policy environment and the prevailing innovation landscape and in constituting a developmental state, firstly, the state’s role is supreme; secondly, power and authority are centralised for a purpose, and thirdly, the state must lend its support to both state-owned enterprises and the private sector, including civil society organisations for inclusivity. A developmental state earns its legitimacy through its performativity—that is, delivering services to the mass of citizens. It wields unquestionable authority, which derives from astute management of relations with state and non-state actors in pursuit of a common agenda of development, however defined. Prudent management of state resources is also a necessary condition. Promulgation of state policy—a prerogative of the state—should be used to steer the state and its organs, the private sector and civil society on a development trajectory that benefits large numbers of people, particularly the marginalised and the poor. The latter ensures good governance and political stability that are necessary but not sufficient conditions for growth. Overall, this chapter argues that policy and innovation are required for productivity growth and a developmental state is one that deliberately reduces poverty as a matter of policy. We posit a triadic framework that offers a compass and space for reflection on achievements in order to establish focus points and thus improve efficiency and effectiveness as well as monitoring and evaluation.

Science, technology, and innovation (STI) are generally accepted as major drivers of growth and can help address poverty and directly improve the well-being of different groups in society. However, under certain circumstances, STI can reinforce social exclusion and inequalities. This book explores discourses around directionality and the importance of Innovation for Inclusive Development (IID) in addressing policy questions that explore the relationship between IID with inequalities in income and opportunities. It seeks to unpack the concept of IID and what it means in a country such as South Africa – a country characterised by endemic poverty, deepening inequality, and high levels of unemployment. The book is largely original and based on a critique of existing literature to expose specific issues or bolster specific arguments about the role of IID in equitable and inclusive development. This book has been written by various scholars who understand the various notions of IID and how it can possibly be applied and the relevance of such knowledge for policy, programmes and practice.

Science, technology, and innovation (STI) are generally accepted as major drivers of growth and can help address poverty and directly improve the well-being of different groups in society. However, under certain circumstances, STI can reinforce social exclusion and inequalities. This book explores discourses around directionality and the importance of Innovation for Inclusive Development (IID) in addressing policy questions that explore the relationship between IID with inequalities in income and opportunities. It seeks to unpack the concept of IID and what it means in a country such as South Africa – a country characterised by endemic poverty, deepening inequality, and high levels of unemployment. The book is largely original and based on a critique of existing literature to expose specific issues or bolster specific arguments about the role of IID in equitable and inclusive development. This book has been written by various scholars who understand the various notions of IID and how it can possibly be applied and the relevance of such knowledge for policy, programmes and practice.

The recent experiences and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic provide a valuable lens for understanding the vulnerabilities of informal settlements and how they are positioned to respond to other large-scale hazards. This article explores the body of knowledge on the pandemic in the context of informal settlements, guided by the scoping review strategy. Our findings reveal that COVID-19 has impacted informal settlements in several ways, including increasing loss of income, food insecurity, increased gender inequality, gender-based violence and forced evictions. While there have been numerous responses to the crisis, several pre-existing factors in informal settlements impeded their implementation. We note that lessons from the pandemic provide an important opportunity to address pre-existing vulnerabilities in informal settlements to make them more resilient to both health and environmental shocks.

Housing and the associated challenges in South Africa cannot be discussed without reference to the country's past and how the many race-based laws and policies of the past contributed to poverty, inequality and limited human settlement backlogs, particularly among the black population. This chapter examines the key housing and land policies of pre-democratic South Africa highlighting how the systematic dispossession of people of their land and the segregationist policies of the past continue to be contributing factors to spatial segregation and housing backlogs in post-apartheid South Africa. The chapter provides the historical context that informs subsequent chapters in this book.

In contemporary post-apartheid a number of housing policies have been made since the 1994 democratic dispensation in an attempt to solve housing problems especially for poor and low-income population in South Africa. The most recent policy has been the Comprehensive Housing Plan for the Development of Integrated Sustainable Human Settlements commonly known as the Breaking New Ground (BNG) housing plan of 2004. The aims of this paper are to present an overview and empirical analysis on research and emerging legitimisation of the participation of informal institutions in planning phase for housing development in rural areas. This paper analyses public participatory processes in the planning phase of rural housing project(s) in Jozini Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal. Since the establishment of a fully-fledged local government institutions and the promulgation of the BNG in 2004, inhabitants have experienced materialisation of new housing opportunities for community members. These opportunities created during the planning phase which results to community members benefiting in housing development excludes the poor in the process of self-help subsidy administration and housing allocation. Grounded on the works of Foucauldian scholars especially the ‘discourse of power’ in participation, the paper argues that the local community members not only embody the local knowledge to be accessed, but their participation presents an important entry point to the political decision-making needed for collecting differing viewpoints and interests but also for initiating the negotiations needed that would lead to coordination, if not cooperation for housing development. We propose that participatory processes that are beneficiary to the poor are best understood when traced over time as a dynamic response to a constantly unfolding-project related intervention.

The inclusion of women, and women’s participation in politics has been identified as key prerequisites for the development of an inclusive democracy and the promotion of good governance in post-apartheid South Africa. Yet women still face a series of barriers to their active participation in development policy-making and political processes, barriers that have been compounded by structural inequalities of race and social class. This chapter draws upon a recent study, implemented by the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE), to investigate institutional and structural barriers to women’s full political participation and representation, impacting both on experiences of women in political parties, and on ordinary women’s shaping of development priorities and decision-making at the local level.

This article provides a sketch of ways in which ‘formal’ institutions of democratic representation work in practice for women in South Africa (SA). In doing so, the state of women’s participation and representation in the political process in SA is explored. Available data substantiates that women’s organisations and women’s wings of political parties have influenced the Government of SA and political parties to introduce quotas for women. Although quotas have increased the descriptive representation of women in political arenas, their representation in the decision-making process has not yet been ensured. Women face several social, cultural and political challenges that hinder their participation, and are still neglected by their male counterparts. Election of women councillors does not resolve a series of dilemmas concerning how to institutionalise democratic representation within a racially diverse, spatially divided and rapidly changing political landscape in SA. Key words : women, participation, representation, government, quota