National Human Resource Development in Transitioning Societies in the Developing World: South Africa

The problem and the solution. South Africa as a developing country in the past decade has undergone a significant transformation in its national human resource development framework. Applying the holistic and integrative approach to human resource development of Harbison and Meyers, the social, political, and economic context of South Africa's national human resource development is analyzed. The appropriateness of their approach is supported for the understanding of a transforming country's national human resource development. It reinforces the contention that national human resource development must be understood in the context of a county's historical roots, cultural values, education level, political system, and human resource development legislation in combination with its labor profile and economic system and policy.