UCT Sustainability and the SDGs 2022 - Report - Page 24
1
High standard of
living, quality of
life & well being
for all
4
Transformed
economies & job
creation
7
Environmentally
sustainable &
climate resilient
economies &
communities
SDG 8: DECENT WORK AND
ECONOMIC GROWTH
In 2022, South Africa had the highest rates of unemployment in the world.
UCT has research groups dedicated to exploring the dynamics of unemployment
and the labour market in South Africa like the Development Policy Research Unit
(DPRU), that has a strong relationship with government and policymakers to
support evidence-informed policy in South Africa.
Supporting and expanding
South Africa’s informal
economy
Type’, which explores the reasons for South Africa’s low
rate of informality within the context of its high level of
unemployment, and a formal sector that is unable to
generate employment at the levels required.
South Africa’s unemployment crisis is partly driven by a
very small informal sector compared to other developing
economies.
Core to this work has been engagement with officials
within local government to understand the constraints to
informal sector activity, and how appropriate regulation
and policy could be used to encourage economic
participation within the informal sector.
In 2022, the DPRU in the Faculty of Commerce
collaborated with Harvard University’s GrowthLab on
a project called ‘Supply-Side Economics of a Good
24 – University of Cape Town
