Chronic and Transitory Poverty in Post-Apartheid South Africa
Benjamin J Roberts2001, Journal of Poverty
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Abstract
Since the inception of the post-apartheid dispensation in the early 1990s, poverty alleviation has come to represent an increasingly significant developmental concern in South Africa. This mirrors the international poverty agenda that gained momentum with the publication of the World Development Report 1990 and that has come to characterise the nineties. A concomitant response has been a reconfiguration of the contours of poverty research in South Africa, one that reflects this commitment to understanding the nature and causes of impoverishment and formulating appropriate policy interventions. A critical milestone in this new poverty research agenda occurred in late 1993 with the Project for Statistics on Living Standards and Development (PSLSD) under the auspices of the South African Labour and Development Research Unit (Saldru). 1 This study was the first fully representative household income and living standards survey in South Africa, incorporating approximately 8800 households nationwide (of which 4259 were rural African households), and is generally considered the benchmark for comprehensive poverty-related data in the country. 2 The results from the survey revealed, inter alia that: With a Gini coefficient of 0.58, South Africa has one of the highest levels of inequality in the world. Apartheid policies, by engendering a situation of inequitable access to employment, services and resources to the African population, have resulted in poverty being characterised by a strong racial dimension. Poverty is geographically concentrated, with the largest share of the poor (72 percent) residing in rural areas, especially the former homelands. There is a marked tendency for poverty to be more prevalent among female-headed households and among children.
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