LEVERAGING MONETARY POLICY TO SUPPORT THE TRANSITIONAL NEEDS OF SOUTH AFRICAN WORKERS

The document examines how South Africa's current growth model and monetary governance reinforce a capital-intensive economy and inequality. It identifies significant unexploited liquidity in the banking and retirement sectors and proposes reforms to the South African Green Finance Taxonomy (SAGFT), the adoption of corporate transition plans, and the use of direct and indirect credit allocation tools to fund a just transition for workers.

• The Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) is criticized for primarily directing its $8.5 billion in committed finance toward electricity infrastructure rather than economic diversification, which the author argues is unlikely to reshape the financial and industrial status quo or reduce wealth inequality.
• South Africa's growth model is dominated by the 'Mineral Energy Complex' (MEC), where investment is concentrated in capital-intensive sectors like mining. Total investment remains below the 25% of GDP threshold required for dynamic economic growth, and mining companies have often diverted credit toward speculative assets rather than job-creating activities.
• The South African Reserve Bank's (SARB) current approach to monetary governance, characterized by operational independence and a formal inflation-targeting regime, is argued to inhibit economic dynamism and prioritize price stability over employment, often channeling funds toward speculative financial sectors.
• There is substantial unexploited liquidity in the South African financial system: allocating 10% of banks' ten-year average lending to a developmental agenda would provide approximately R52.41bn, and returning the retirement industry's maximum offshore investment limit to 30% could increase onshore assets by an estimated R600bn.
• The South African Green Finance Taxonomy (SAGFT) requires three primary reforms to support workers: the introduction of mandatory disclosure of taxonomy-related information, integration into a broader sustainable finance strategy, and the inclusion of 'transition support' for workers within the definition of 'green'.
• The author proposes that the government and SARB mandate corporate transition plans for firms, requiring disclosures on skills needed for the transition, training measures for current employees, and the extent to which the workforce was consulted in the planning process.
• Proposed credit allocation mechanisms include direct price-based controls (such as state investment banks and dual/subsidized interest rates), indirect price-based policies (such as targeted refinancing lines and green-differentiated capital requirements), and direct quantity-based policies (such as asset prescription for pension funds).

APA

Morrise, J. H. (2025). LEVERAGING MONETARY POLICY TO SUPPORT THE TRANSITIONAL NEEDS OF SOUTH AFRICAN WORKERS. Institute for Economic Justice. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/IEJ-policybrief-PBMonetaryPolicy.pdf

Chicago

Morrise, John Hogan. LEVERAGING MONETARY POLICY TO SUPPORT THE TRANSITIONAL NEEDS OF SOUTH AFRICAN WORKERS. Institute for Economic Justice, 2025. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/IEJ-policybrief-PBMonetaryPolicy.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Morrise |first1=John Hogan |title=LEVERAGING MONETARY POLICY TO SUPPORT THE TRANSITIONAL NEEDS OF SOUTH AFRICAN WORKERS |publisher=Institute for Economic Justice |date=February 2025 |url=https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/IEJ-policybrief-PBMonetaryPolicy.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{morrise2025leveraging, author = {Morrise, John Hogan}, title = {{LEVERAGING MONETARY POLICY TO SUPPORT THE TRANSITIONAL NEEDS OF SOUTH AFRICAN WORKERS}}, institution = {Institute for Economic Justice}, year = {2025}, month = feb, url = {https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/IEJ-policybrief-PBMonetaryPolicy.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }