Inequality in post-apartheid South Africa

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Apartheid

Events

* 1948 general election
* Coloured vote constitutional crisis
* 1956 Treason Trial
* Sharpeville massacre
* Rivonia Trial
* Soweto uprising
* Church Street, Pretoria bombing
* Vaal uprising
* Trojan Horse Incident
* Khotso House bombing
* Cape Town peace march
* CODESA
* Assassination of Chris Hani
* Saint James Church massacre
* 1994 Bophuthatswana crisis
* Shell House massacre

Organisations

* ANC
* APLA
* IFP
* AWB
* BBB
* Black Sash
* CCB
* Conservative Party
* DP
* ECC
* FOSATU
* PP
* RP
* PFP
* HNP
* MK
* PAC
* UDF
* Broederbond
* National Party
* COSATU
* Security Branch
* SACC
* SADF
* SAIC
* SAMA
* SAP
* SACP
* State Security Council

People

* Vernon Berrangé
* P. W. Botha
* Steve Biko
* Mangosuthu Buthelezi
* F. W. de Klerk
* Ruth First
* Bram Fischer
* Arthur Goldreich
* Chris Hani
* Bantu Holomisa
* Joel Joffe
* Ahmed Kathrada
* Albert Luthuli
* Winnie Madikizela-Mandela
* Mac Maharaj
* D. F. Malan
* Nelson Mandela
* Govan Mbeki
* Thabo Mbeki
* Raymond Mhlaba
* Benjamin Moloise
* Albertina Sisulu
* Walter Sisulu
* J. G. Strijdom
* Joe Slovo
* Robert Sobukwe
* Helen Suzman
* Adelaide Tambo
* Oliver Tambo
* Eugène Terre'Blanche
* Desmond Tutu
* H. F. Verwoerd
* B. J. Vorster
* Jacob Zuma

Places

* Bantustan
* District Six
* Robben Island
* Sophiatown
* South-West Africa

Soweto
* Sun City
* Vlakplaas

Related topics

* Afrikaner nationalism
* Apartheid in popular culture
* Apartheid legislation
* Cape Qualified Franchise
* Disinvestment campaign
* Freedom Charter
* Internal resistance to apartheid
* Kairos Document
* Music in the movement against apartheid
* Nostalgia for apartheid
* Project Coast
* Sullivan Principles

* Category

* v
* t
* e

Negotiations to end apartheid began in 1990 and continued until President Nelson Mandela's electoral victory as South Africa's first Black president in the first democratic all-races general election of 1994.[1] This signified the legislative end of apartheid in South Africa, a system of widespread racially-based segregation to enforce almost complete separation of white and Black races in South Africa.[2] Before the legislative end of apartheid, whites had held almost complete control over all political and socioeconomic power in South Africa during apartheid, only allowing acquiescent Black traditional leaders to participate in facades of political power.[1] Repercussions from the decades of apartheid continue to resonate through every facet of South African life, despite copious amounts of legislation meant to alleviate inequalities.[3]

Post-apartheid South Africa struggles to correct the social inequalities created by decades of apartheid.[1] White nepotism remains a considerable obstacle to economic gain and political influence for Black South Africans.[4][5] Despite a growing gross domestic product, indices for poverty, unemployment, income inequality, life expectancy and land ownership, have declined.[3][6] No industry in the economy has over 50% ownership by Black individuals in terms of their share even though 81.4% of the South African population is Black.[4][6] The end of the apartheid system in South Africa has largely not changed the socioeconomic stratification by race.[5] A small subset of the Black population have been able to create a Black middle class that did not exist during apartheid, but otherwise, the large majority of Black people in South Africa have yet to experience a difference in economic class since apartheid was abolished.[3][4] International measures of inequality, such as the Gini coefficient, report that inequalities within races has greatly increased since the end of apartheid, even when overall inequalities are slightly improved.[3][5] High levels of Black unemployment coupled with a rising Black population remains one of the biggest problems, particularly for women and the uneducated or unskilled.[5][6]

South Africa's most recent census in 2022 highlighted areas of supposed improvement, such as greater access to electricity, piped water, education, and refuse collection services, but was criticized for missing 31% of the largely rural population.[3][6] The South African government has been denounced because it does not have an official poverty line, preventing accurate measures from being assessed.[4][5] The most recent census did not include measures of income previously used to define poverty in prior censuses nor did it give an official population percentage, but international organizations have placed the percentage of South African people experiencing poverty to at least 50% and possibly even higher after the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.[4][5][6]

## Factors contributing to post-apartheid inequality in South Africa

[edit]

### Key legislation shaping post-apartheid inequality

[edit]

South Africa has a very high unemployment rate, officially 31.9% as of Q3 in 2023.[7] Redistribution aims to transfer white-owned commercial farms to Black South Africans.[8] Restitution involves giving compensation to land lost to whites due to apartheid, racism, and discrimination.[8] Land tenure reform strives to provide more secure access to land.[8] Several laws have been enacted to facilitate redistribution, restitution, and land tenure reform. The Provision of Certain Land of Settlement Act of 1996 designates land for settlement purposes and ensures financial assistance to those seeking to acquire land.[8] The Restitution of Land Rights Act of 1994 guided the implementation of restitution and gave it a legal basis.[8] The Extension of Security of Tenure Act of 1996 helps rural communities obtain stronger rights to their land and regulates the relationships between owners of rural land and those living on it.[8] So far, these land reform measures have been semi-effective. By 1998, over 250,000 Black South Africans received land as a result of the Land Redistribution Programme.[8] Very few restitution claims have been resolved.[8] In the five years following the land reform programmes were instituted, only 1% of land changed hands, despite the African National Congress’s goal of 30%.[8] The Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) was a socio-economic programme aimed at addressing racial inequalities by creating business and education while only 4% of the wealthiest students are functionally illiterate, indicating a stark divide in literacy between income quartiles.[9]

### Educational disparities

[edit]

The spatial segregation of apartheid continues to affect educational opportunities. Black and low-income students face geographic barriers to good schools, which are usually located in affluent neighborhoods.[9] While South Africans enter higher education in increasing numbers, there is still a stark difference in the racial distribution of these students.

As of 2013, the global competitiveness survey[10] ranked South Africa last out of 148 for the quality of maths and science education and 146th out of 148 for the quality of general education, behind almost all African countries despite one of the largest budgets for education on the African continent. The same report lists the biggest obstacle to doing business as an "Inadequately educated workforce". Education, therefore, remains one of the poorest areas of performance in post-apartheid South Africa and one of the biggest causes of continued inequality and poverty.

### Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic

[edit]

The COVID-19 pandemic has served to widen the gaps between existing levels of economic inequality in South Africa, and poor, Black communities have been given the greatest burden largely due to insufficient government support during the pandemic.[11] South Africa was criticized early for not enacting a travel ban on international travelers as COVID-19 began ravaging other countries.[11] However, South Africa was quick to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic on the arrival of its first reported case as compared to Western countries, implementing a 6-week lock down only 22 days after the first confirmed case of COVID-19 was reported in South Africa early in March.[12][4] Restrictions included a ban on international travelers, school closures, and the prohibition of large group gatherings including 100 people or more.[11] School closures threatened food security for 9 million children who relied on school feeding programs to supplement daily nutrition with no back-up plan given by the government.[13] Two weeks into the lock down further rules were implemented, including the closure of non-essential businesses and a controversial sales ban on liquor, tobacco, and vaping products.[11] Close to 10 million low-income individuals lost their jobs during this time.[13]

As the 6-week lock down came to an end, South Africa began to reduce the severity of lock down rules, citing successful containment, but the South African government was criticized for inflating positive results of early containment procedures without evidence to support their claims.[12] Hospitals already lacked the resources to handle their pre-COVID case loads and were quickly overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases early on in the pandemic, necessitating other health problems to be sidelined.[11] Domestic violence cases against women and children in the lower economic classes skyrocketed.[13] An emergency food box program was eventually created to fight food insecurity, but most poor communities never received the help.[4] Less than 100,000 of the boxes were distributed across South Africa in the first year and a half of the program’s creation.[13] Economically disadvantaged communities found immense fault with the inequitable government efforts regarding food allocation, testing centers, and the distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE).[11] Brewing public frustration over economic losses, lock down measures, the lack of available medical interventions, and the arrest of former South African president Jacob Zuma resulted in widely attended protests that devolved into destructive riots in KwaZulu-Natal and Johannesburg in 2021.[4] The events now known as the 2021 South African unrest, the Zuma riots, or the July 2021 riots, escalated into the most severe violence South Africa has witnessed since the conclusion of apartheid, and resulted in the arrests of over 5,500 individuals and the deaths of 354.[11]

## Wealth inequality

[edit]

This section is an excerpt from Wealth inequality in South Africa.[edit]

According to the World Bank, South Africa is the most economically unequal country in the world.[14] The difference between the wealthy and the poor in South Africa has been increasing steadily since the end of apartheid in 1994, and this inequality is closely linked to racial divisions in society. The reason for South Africa's economic inequality being closely linked to racial divisions is due to historic systems of racial hierarchy. The system of Apartheid that existed in South Africa prior to 1994 concentrated power in the hand of the white minority who used this power to deny economic opportunity to the black majority. For example, the Apartheid regime barred Blacks from working and living in cities in order to keep them out of skilled labour positions. This ban was only lifted in 1973 due to shortages of workers in the manufacturing sector.[15] This system of denying Blacks economic opportunity resulted in significant economic inequality that persists to the present day and can be seen in all sectors including land ownership, educational opportunities, recreational spaces, housing and jobs.[16]

## See also

[edit]

* Apartheid in South Africa
* Negotiations to end apartheid in South Africa
* Crime of apartheid
* Sexual violence in South Africa

* v
* t
* e

Politics of South Africa

By province|

* Eastern Cape
* Free State
* Gauteng
* KwaZulu-Natal
* Limpopo
* Mpumalanga
* North West
* Northern Cape
* Western Cape

Flag of South Africa

Political
movements|

| Ideologies|

* African nationalism
* Afrikaner nationalism
* Anarchism
* Anti-war
* Black consciousness
* Environmentalism
* Federalism
* Feminism
* Liberalism
* Pan-Africanism
* Non-racialism
* Trotskyism

|

Political parties|

see South Africa political parties

Other political
organisations|

* AfriForum
* Afrikanerbond
* Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB)
* Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (CONTRALESA)
* Congress of South African Students (COSAS)
* Earthlife Africa
* Keep Left
* Khanya College
* Koeberg Alert
* Lesbian and Gay Equality Project (LGEP)
* People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD)
* South African Liberal Students' Association (SALSA)
* South African Students Congress (SASCO)
* South African Wine Initiative
* Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF)

Trade unions and
Social movements|

see South Africa trade unions

* Equal Education
* Mandela Park Backyarders
* People Against Suffering, Oppression and Poverty (PASSOP)
* Poor People's Alliance
* Abahlali baseMjondolo
* Landless Peoples Movement
* Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign
* Reclaim the City
* Social Justice Coalition
* Treatment Action Campaign
* Unemployed Peoples' Movement

Law|

see South African law

Political culture|

* African Renaissance
* Alternative media
* Azania
* Corruption
* (Don't) touch me on my studio
* Freedom Charter
* Proudly South African
* Rainbow nation
* Renaming
* Tenderpreneurs
* Toyi-toyi
* Ubuntu
* UnFreedom Day
* White monopoly capital
* Ungovernability
* Xenophobia

* Anti-Chinese sentiment
* Anti-Indian sentiment

| Slogans|

* "Amandla Ngawethu!"
* "No Land! No House! No Vote!"
* "Dubul' ibhunu" (Shoot the Boer)
* "One Settler, One Bullet"
* "Each One, Teach One"

|

Books and
periodicals|

* African Communist
* Amandla
* ANC Today
* Biko
* I Write What I Like
* Long Walk to Freedom
* Molotov Cocktail
* No Land! No House! No Vote!

Other|

* Corrective rape
* Crime
* Cape Independence
* Elections
* e-tolling
* Farm attacks
* Gupta family
* HIV/AIDS
* Labour brokering
* Land occupations
* Legacies of apartheid
* Lindela
* Phala Phala robbery
* Political assassinations
* Political repression
* Protests
* Sexual violence
* Shack fires
* Terrorism
* Third Force

Category

* v
* t
* e

Political history of South Africa

Defunct polities|

* Kingdom of Mapungubwe (c. 1075–c. 1220)
* Dutch Cape Colony (1652–1806)
* Mthethwa Paramountcy (c. 1780–1817)
* Ndwandwe Kingdom (c. 1780–1819)
* Cape Colony (1795–1910)
* Zulu Kingdom (1816–1897)
* Natalia Republic (1839–1843)
* Natal Colony (1843–1910)
* Orange Free State (1854–1902)
* South African Republic (1856–1902)
* Griqualand East (1861–1879)
* Griqualand West (1870–1873)
* Goshen (1882–1883)
* Stellaland (1882–1885)
* Nieuwe Republiek (1884–1888)
* Upingtonia (1885–1887)
* Klein Vrystaat (1886–1891)
* Orange River Colony (1902–1910)
* Transvaal Colony (1902–1910)
* Union of South Africa (1910–1961)
* Transkei (1976–1994)
* Bophuthatswana (1977–1994)
* Venda (1979–1994)
* Ciskei (1981–1994)

Events|

| Pre-colonial|

* Bantu migrations
* Battle of Salt River

|

1652–1815|

* Dutch settlement
* French Huguenot settlement
* Khoikhoi–Dutch Wars
* Xhosa Wars
* Battle of Muizenberg
* Battle of Blaauwberg
* Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814

1815–1910|

* Mfecane
* 1820 Settlers
* Great Trek
* Boer Republics
* Transvaal Civil War
* Mineral Revolution
* Witwatersrand Gold Rush
* South African Wars
* South Africa Act 1909 (National Convention)

1910–1948|

* South West Africa campaign
* Maritz rebellion
* Rand Rebellion
* Great Depression
* 1946 African Mine Workers' Union strike
* Bantustans

Apartheid|

* 1948 general election
* Apartheid legislation
* Pass laws
* Internal resistance
* Coloured-vote constitutional crisis
* Defiance Campaign
* Congress of the People
* Freedom Charter
* Women's March 1956
* 1957 Alexandra bus boycott
* Sharpeville massacre
* 1960 republic referendum
* International isolation
* UN Resolution 1761
* UNSC Resolution 591
* Academic boycott
* Disinvestment
* Constructive engagement
* Tar Baby Option
* Sporting boycott
* Olympics
* Rugby union
* Rivonia Trial
* Durban Moment
* Border War
* Israeli alliance
* Israel–South Africa Agreement
* Mafeje affair
* Soweto Uprising
* Weapons of mass destruction
* Project Coast
* Church Street bombing
* 1983 constitutional referendum
* Vaal uprising
* Langa massacre
* Rubicon speech
* Operation Vula
* Dakar Conference
* Transkei coup d'état
* Ciskei coup d'état
* Venda coup d'état
* Third Force
* CODESA
* Storming of the Kempton Park World Trade Centre
* Bisho massacre
* 1992 apartheid referendum
* Saint James Church massacre
* Bophuthatswana crisis
* Shell House massacre
* Sauer Commission

Post-
apartheid|

* 1994 general election
* Government of National Unity
* Reconstruction and Development Programme
* Truth and Reconciliation Commission
* Arms Deal
* Floor crossing
* Soweto bombings
* African Renaissance
* Travelgate
* Xenophobia
* Attack on Kennedy Road
* Blikkiesdorp
* Marikana massacre
* 2012 Western Cape farm workers' strike
* Nkandlagate
* Racism
* 2014 platinum strike
* #RhodesMustFall protests
* #FeesMustFall student protests
* Tshwane riots
* 2019 service delivery protests
* 2019 Johannesburg riots
* COVID-19 pandemic
* 2020 Phala Phala Robbery
* 2021 unrest
* Lady R incident

Political culture|

* African nationalism
* Afrikaner Calvinism
* Afrikaner nationalism
* Anarchism
* Azania
* Baasskap
* Boerehaat
* Black Consciousness Movement
* Cape Independence
* Day of the Vow
* Greater South Africa
* Honorary whites
* Rooi gevaar
* Slavery
* Swart gevaar
* Uitlander
* Volkstaat

Defunct
organisations|

| Civic and political
organisations|

* Afrikaner Bond
* Afrikaner Broederbond
* Afrikaner Party
* AITUP
* APO
* AVF
* BPC
* Black Sash
* Boerestaat Party
* CDA
* CNIP
* CTEG
* COD
* Congress Alliance
* COSG
* CP
* DLF
* Dominion Party
* DP (1973–1977)
* DP (1989–2000)
* DPP
* DSM
* ECC
* FA
* FD
* Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners
* GNP
* Het Volk
* HNP (Herenigde)
* HNP (Herstigte)
* IDASA
* ID
* IP
* ISL
* Jeugkrag
* Johannesburg Reform Committee
* Labour Party (1910–1958)
* Labour Party (1969–1994)
* Liberal Party (1953–1968)
* NA
* NCP
* Natal Indian Congress
* NLP
* NNP
* NP
* NPP
* NRP
* NUSAS
* Occupy
* Orangia Unie
* Oranjewerkers
* Orde Boerevolk
* PAVN
* PFP
* Progressive Party (Cape Colony)
* Progressive Party
* PRP
* Radio Freedom
* Reform Party
* SABP
* SADECO
* SAIC
* SASO
* SAYCO
* SAYRCO
* South African Party (Cape Colony)
* South African Party (1911–1934)
* South African Party (1977–1980)
* TNIP
* Torch Commando
* UFP
* United Party
* Unionist Party
* National Party of Venda
* Volksparty
* Workers Party
* WOSA

|

Trade unions and
social movements|

* APF
* BCM
* BLATU
* CNETU
* CTSWU
* FCWU
* FNETU
* FOSATU
* ICU
* IWW
* MUSA
* NEUM
* NURHS
* PAWE
* SAAPAWU
* SACTU
* SAIF
* SARHU
* SATUC
* Die Spoorbund
* UDF
* Umkosi Wezintaba

Paramilitary and
terrorist organisations|

* APLA
* ARM
* AWB
* BBB
* Boeremag
* Greyshirts
* MK
* Ossewabrandwag
* Orde van die Dood
* PAGAD
* SANF

Histories of
political parties|

* African National Congress
* Democratic Alliance
* Pan Africanist Congress of Azania

Category

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Nesbitt, Francis Njubi (2004). Race for sanctions: African Americans against apartheid, 1946-1994. Blacks in the diaspora. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-34232-4.
2. ^ "Race in South Africa: Still an Issue". The Economist. 4 February 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
3. ^ a b c d e Oqubay, Arkebe; Tregenna, Fiona; Valodia, Imraan, eds. (2021). The Oxford handbook of the South African economy (1st ed.). Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-289419-9.
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Joseph, Juliet Eileen (30 November 2021). "Post-apartheid South Africa's exacerbated inequality and the Covid-19 pandemic: intersectionality and the politics of power: The Politics of Power". EUREKA: Social and Humanities (6): 68–78\. doi:10.21303/2504-5571.2021.002099. ISSN 2504-5571.
5. ^ a b c d e f McKeever, Matthew (4 December 2024). "Social stratification and inequality in South Africa". Sociology Compass. 18 (2). doi:10.1111/soc4.13173. ISSN 1751-9020.
6. ^ a b c d e "Statistics South Africa | Census Dissemination". census.statssa.gov.za. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
7. ^ "Statistics South Africa on Quarterly Labour Force Survey quarter three 2023". South African Government. 14 November 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cliffe, Lionel (2000). "Land Reform in South Africa". Review of African Political Economy. 27 (84): 273–286\. doi:10.1080/03056240008704459. hdl:10.1080/03056240008704459 – via ScienceOpen.
9. ^ a b Spaull, N (2013). "Poverty & privilege: Primary school inequality in South Africa". International Journal of Educational Development. 33 (5): 436–447\. doi:10.1016/j.ijedudev.2012.09.009.
10. ^ "World competitiveness survey 2013" (PDF).
11. ^ a b c d e f g Fourie, Pieter; Lamb, Guy (16 March 2023). The South African Response to COVID-19: The Early Years (1 ed.). London: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781003294931. ISBN 978-1-003-29493-1.
12. ^ a b Muller, Seán M. (1 April 2021). "The dangers of performative scientism as the alternative to anti-scientific policymaking: A critical, preliminary assessment of South Africa's Covid-19 response and its consequences". World Development. 140: 105290. doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105290. ISSN 0305-750X. PMC 8457686.
13. ^ a b c d Casale, Daniela; Shepherd, Debra (3 September 2022). "The gendered effects of the Covid-19 crisis in South Africa: Evidence from NIDS-CRAM waves 1–5". Development Southern Africa. 39 (5): 644–663\. doi:10.1080/0376835X.2022.2036105. ISSN 0376-835X.
14. ^ "New World Bank Report Assesses Sources of Inequality in Five Countries in Southern Africa". World Bank. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
15. ^ Levy, Philip I. "Sanctions on South Africa: What Did They Do?". jstor. The American Economic Review. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
16. ^ Duckitt, John. "Political Power and Race Relations in South Africa: African Attitudes Before and After the Transition" (PDF). jstor. Political Psychology. Retrieved 6 January 2025.

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