Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1970s-1990s (Creation)
Level of description
Fonds
Extent and medium
17 boxes
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Stephen Gelb holds a PhD in Economics, with experience in research and policy in South Africa. He was an adviser to President Mbeki and his government, on macroeconomic policy and public expenditure and on international investment and trade policy.
Stephen Gelb's involvement included amongst others: working with COSATU from the mid-80s up to 1990 as the founder of the Economic Trends group of advisors; working with the ANC and its newly established Department of Economic Policy after its unbanning in the early 1990s, as well as the MERG process during the transitional period; working with the new government after 1994, including the GEAR process and projects for the Presidency relating to the arms deal affordability report and the establishment of NEPAD.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Stephen Gelb deposited his papers in 2019, through the Dean of the Wits University's Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
The collection contains the working papers of Stephen Gelb, with materials relating to the South African economy and economic policy debates which he accumulated during his deep involvement in those debates between the mid-1980s and the early 2000s. The materials include his own research and analytical work, as well as his notes from meetings, many reports and documents from South African and international organisations, some published by the organisations, many unpublished working drafts. Some of the material was in the public domain at the time, some had private or narrow circulation. It is a collection reflecting his own involvements and interests.