AYABONGA CAWE: There is a welcome policy shift towards the social economy
Minimum wage for community health workers is an improvement
For many of us, R3,500 may be a pittance. But to those who have been viewed for decades as “step-cousins” in the health system — community health workers — it is a welcome improvement. The work done by care workers in homes, hospices and various other facilities is important, although largely invisible. Many others work for far less in creches, food gardens, co-operatives, public employment schemes and other social economy organisations. Last week the economic development department, alongside the International Labour Organisation and the government of Flanders, launched a consultation for a social economy policy. The sector, referred to by some as the "solidarity economy" or "third sector" exists to augment and plug the gaps caused by market and government failures in the provision of services, products and support. To bring internet in areas that our information & communications technology players see as economically unviable; bring early childhood development services in communit...
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