South Africa's Department of Trade, Industry and Competition has launched a website with details on the social and solidarity economy policy. The website brings together a wide range of documents, photographs, videos and training materials on to the social and solidarity economy policy process in South Africa. Developed with the support of the Industrial Development Corporation, the ILO and the Government of Flanders, this web-platform is an important milestone in the policy development process on the social and solidarity economy in South Africa.

The website includes the draft Green Paper inviting feedback from the readers. The draft Green Paper has been submitted for political approval, and has been operationalized through the Social Employment Fund, with a focus on part time employment in the social and solidarity economy.

It provides an overview of the consultations held at the provincial level in 2019. There is also a citizens’ space on the website where research specific to the social and solidarity economy can be found. Two recently launched reports are featured, including the flagship study on the social and solidarity economy and an evaluation of South Africa’s policy development process on the social and solidarity economy.

Ten case studies profiling the diversity of SSE organisations in the South African environment can also be found among the articles on the website, notably the fishing agency Abalobi, a scholarship programme run by Fikile Moeti, and a housing initiative Ethembalethu, which blends co-operative and stokvel principles of management and financing.