Reasons for Poverty in South Africa

Introduction

Poverty, inequality, and violence mark contemporary form of life in South Africa (Crais, 2011). Apartheid, exploitation, poor agriculture, and violence provide rich possibility for exploring the global issues of poverty and insecurity. Modern South Africa has one world’s largest gaps separating the wealthy and the poor. The southern African country experiences extremely high levels of poverty. South Africa held the first democratic elections in 1994, but since then both poverty and inequality have risen. These problems pose acute challenges to the country’s leadership and raise a number of issues ranging from basic service provision to the durability of South Africa’s young democracy. The country’s most impoverished region is the Eastern Province in which a quarter of the country’s poor live. Approximately half of the country’s population is unemployed (Ibid). Malnutrition, disease, and infant mortality remain at an all-time high level.

Conclusion

Aside from politics, South Africa’s post apartheid landscape expresses the legacy of apartheid (Finn, Leibbrandt, & Wegner, 2011). Inequality and poverty are the main detractors of the “miracle transition”, as is the common term in the country. A high level of skewness in patterns of the distribution of resources persists, reinforcing the actions of inequality and poverty. Resolving these issues remains the focal aim of policy responses. While poverty level shows signs of reduction, inequality is rising. Fiscal redistribution is a critical tool essential for channeling state resources to priority areas of need. Social policies, including grants, are also instrumental in lifting people out of the poverty menace. Provision of equal opportunities for all South Africans is the bottom line of policies aimed at creating a solution to poverty.

Reference

Finn, A., Leibbrandt, M., & Wegner, E. (2011). “Policies for reducing Income Inequalities and

Poverty in South Africa”. In: “Transformation Audit 2011: from inequality to Inclusive

Growth”. Ed. Hofmeyr, J. Cape Town: Institute of Justice and Reconciliation

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