2009 News
In recent months the international body for worker cooperatives has launched an online news magazine. This communication resource connects worker cooperatives and movements from around the world. It is available from CICOPA.
"Driving global recovery through co-operative enterprise"
Over the past six months the Department of Trade and Industry and the International Labour Organisation hosted a seminar series on cooperatives. This seminar series covered various themes such as food security, informal trading, worker cooperatives, cooperative banking, cooperative entrepeneurship and the role of cooperatives in education.
The impact of the global economic crisis is being felt through job losses and increasing poverty in South Africa. South Africa is formally in recession with growth forecasts revised downwards, about 208 000 jobs being lost since October last year and about 4 million people declated officially unemployed.
The Department of Trade and Indsutry has concluded a national baseline study on cooperatives in South Africa. This study covers provinces and sectors in which cooperatives operate. The study has yielded important insights on trends within the cooperative sector and challenges facing cooperative development in South Africa.