Roberts (2006:104) from the Human Sciences Research Council‘s (HSRC) South African Social Attitude Surveys concurs with the Mays’ (1998:7) findings which reveal that compared with the other racial groups, black people are still way behind in accessing enough food as well as income for their households. Statistics South Africa (2011:24-55) and the HSRC‘s surveys also revealed that inequality and poverty were deepening in post-apartheid South Africa.
32 | P a g e The population of South Africa increased from 40,5 million in 1996 to 51,8 million in 2011. Census (2011) results show that the unemployment rate among black African women is 41, 2% based on the official definition and 52, 9% based on the expanded definition. In contrast, the unemployment rate among white women is 6, 9% based on the official definition and 12,5% based on the expanded definition. With regard to the situation of young people in the South African labour market, the Census (2011) results show that the unemployment rate among youth aged 15-24 years is higher than in the older age groups.
South Africa is a relatively rich country, with a strong industrial sector, good infrastructure and a sophisticated 'modern' economy. In per capita terms it is an upper-middle-income country, but despite this relative wealth, the Poverty Inequality Report (see May, 1998:2) revealed that most South African households experience outright poverty or suffer a continuing vulnerability to being poor. In addition, the distribution of income and wealth in South Africa is among the most unequal in the world, and many households still have unsatisfactory access to education, health care, energy and clean water.
Roberts’ (2006:119) survey also reveals that the majority of South Africans still perceive themselves as lacking enough food and income to meet all their household needs. It was noted that poor South Africans perceive poverty as including:
Alienation from the community and lack of power to influence change
Food insecurity
Continuous ill-health
High levels of anxiety and stress
Crowded homes
Usage of unsafe and inefficient forms of energy
Lack of jobs that are adequately paid and/or secure
Getting only arduous and hazardous work
Fragmentation of the family (Roberts, 2006:119).
33 | P a g e According to May (2000), the common finding in the literature is that in South Africa, the majority of people who live in rural areas are poor (and the majority of poor live in rural areas). Substantively, about 70% of people living in rural areas are living in poverty, compared to about 30% of people in urban areas. Although less than 50% of the total population live in rural areas, 70% of all the poor people in South Africa live in rural areas. According to Skeleton (2003) one of the most obvious ways in which migration can cause poverty is through forced removals that occur without adequate planning and support.
It is generally believed that when inequality increases poverty also increases: i.e. if one thing is kept inconstant poverty increases as well, thereby dampening the beneficial effect of economic growth on poverty (Bautista, 1999: Paci, Sasin&Verbeek, 2004). This consensus is that where there is an economy where inequality is persistently low, the poor will naturally tend to obtain a higher share of gains from growth than in an economy in which inequality is high (Ravallion& Datt,1999). Whiteford& McGrath (1994) have illustrated in their study on distribution of income in South Africa, that when inequality is high the rich usually become richer and the poor become poorer, thus further increasing the gap between rich and poor.
According to Social Development (2008:4), South Africa is a relatively rich country, with a strong industrial sector, good infrastructure and a sophisticated 'modern' economy. In per capita terms it is an upper-middle-income country, but despite this relative wealth, the ‘Poverty Inequality Report’ (see May, 1998:2) revealed that most South African households experience outright poverty or endure continuing vulnerability to being poor.
In addition, the distribution of income and wealth in South Africa is among the most unequal in the world, and many households still have unsatisfactory access to education, health care, energy and clean water.
Roberts’ (2006:119) survey also revealed that the majority of South Africans still perceive themselves as lacking enough food and income to meet all their household needs. It was noted that poor South Africans perceive poverty as including:
Alienation from the community and lack of power to influence change
34 | P a g e
Food insecurity
Continuous ill health
High levels of anxiety and stress
Crowded homes
Usage of unsafe and inefficient forms of energy
Lack of jobs that are adequately paid and/or secure and
Jobs involving arduous and hazardous work
Fragmentation of the family (Roberts,2006:119)
According to May (2000) the common finding in the literature is that in South Africa, the majority of people living in rural areas are poor while the majority of the poor live in rural areas. Substantively, about 70% people living in rural areas are living in poverty, compared to about 30% of people who live in urban areas. Although less than 50% of the total population reside in rural areas, 70% of all the poor people in South Africa live in rural areas. According to Skeleton (2003), one of the most obvious ways in which migration can cause poverty is through forced removals that occur without adequate planning and support.
It is generally believed that when inequality increases, poverty increases: if one thing is kept inconstant poverty increases as well, thus dampening the beneficial effect of deficiency in an individual’s socio-economic capabilities. Its manifestations include factors such as income, access to basic services, assets, information, social networks or social capital. This broad approach to poverty allows for engagement with the reality
35 | P a g e of poverty and the combination of things that should be done to deal with it. Lipton (1997, 127) argues that a person is poor ifhis access to economic resources is insufficient to acquire enough commodities to meet basic material needs adequately.