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The poor are still black

It is primarily unemployment that threatens the stability of South Africa.




(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)

The legacy of apartheid is highly visible. Along the country road you first come to a pleasant, gentle and well-maintained city. A couple of miles away is the township, a blissful blend of well-kept wealth and relentless poverty in wooden sheds and tinsel. Before 1994, the city was reserved for the whites. The black or colored ones were referred to the township. Today, the picture is more nuanced. It is no longer just white in town, but still only black in the township.

Bafana Hlophe turned 14 when the apartheid regime was replaced by an ANC-led national unity government. Bafana grew up in one of the townships in Ekuruleni – formerly East Rand. The name has changed, but have the social realities changed accordingly? In Bafana's summary of what it was like to grow up in a township, he touches on most of the challenges that South Africa faces – poverty, unemployment, AIDS, crime and education.

Many are wondering if there has been social development and equalization after ten years of democracy. The answer is not easy to give.

Almost bankrupt

The ANC-dominated government that took power in 1994 took on bigger problems than they could imagine. Many years of international boycott had sent South Africa to the brink of bankruptcy. The social differences made South Africa one of the countries in the world with the largest gap between poor and rich. The Gini coefficient, a measure of the difference between poor and rich, was 0,68 (if one is one person has all income, if it is zero all have equal income). The difference between poor and rich followed almost unequivocally the racial boundaries. The poorest were among the blacks and the richest were among the whites.

In today's South Africa, the ginico coefficient has decreased, according to the government's own figures to 0,57. However, the differences are still large. A white man in the formal sector earns an average of 7.500 rand a month, while a woman in the informal sector in the rural area earns just over 300 rand.

Don't have work

Perhaps the most important reason for the large social differences is to be found in unemployment. According to economist Miriam Altmann and figures from Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), unemployment has risen steadily since 1994. If we use a narrow definition of unemployment, which assumes that the person is actively seeking work, the number of unemployed has risen from 20 percent to 29,5 percent. This is an increase of almost ten percentage points. If we use a broader definition, unemployment has increased from 28,6 per cent in 1994 to 41,5 per cent in 2001.

The explanation for these figures may not only be rising unemployment, but may also be a result of improved research methods. No matter how the statistics look, there is no doubt that there are high unemployment figures and that unemployment has increased.

A new look at the figures from HSRC shows us big differences between whites, Asians, colored and blacks. Since the mid-90s, unemployment has risen in all groups. However, it has increased at least for whites. The unemployment rate for this group has been around five per cent for the entire period. The unemployment rate has increased most for blacks, and in 2001 was 35,5 per cent according to the narrow definition.

According to the government, 1,5 million more people are employed in 1995 than it was in 2002. The problem is that the number of new people who have entered the labor market is even greater. As a result, the number of unemployed has increased more than the number of employees.

Better distribution

If poverty and the large inequalities are due to unemployment and wage differences, different strategies are needed to combat them. In order to do something about the situation of the poorest, in addition to creating jobs, one must also do something about the social benefits, ie the minimum insurance.

A couple of years ago, the government-appointed Taylor Committee presented a report on the development of comprehensive social security. The committee proposed the introduction of the BIG, or "basic income grant." BIG is a universalist service to all the country's inhabitants. The idea was that those who are not poor should pay back in the form of taxes. The justification states, among other things, that universalist measures are needed to reach those who really need it.

The size of the BIG was not determined by the committee, but in the discussions it has been suggested that something over 100 rand a month. This is not a huge amount, but if we consider that many households, such as the Bafana family, only have a grandmother's pension of approx. 600 rand per month as the main income, then 110 rand per person will constitute a significant subsidy. BIG would have had an impact on the distribution of resources in the country. The Taylor Committee proposed a gradual introduction, starting with extending the child benefit to 18 years.

A campaign has been established called "South Africans for a basic income grant." Behind this campaign are representatives of an alliance of trade unions, churches, local environmental organizations and various social policy interest groups. This alliance is one of the organizations that can be described under the concept of new social movements. One of the interesting things about these is that the organizational basis is very similar to what was the ANC's own starting point. The government has so far chosen not to comment on the proposal for BIG, but has expanded the basis for child benefit somewhat.

The contours of welfare

There is no social assistance system in South Africa, but the government's boast list says that social benefits are now given equally to everyone, regardless of skin color. The number receiving such a benefit is now over five million. In other words, we begin to see the contours of a welfare state. Important measures so far are minimum pension and child benefit, as well as improvements in the public health system.

The South African Human Rights Commission publishes an annual report on economic and social rights. Here they analyze the government's ability to implement human rights in the social field. The latest report, on the one hand, points out important things that have been achieved in social policy. On the other hand, they also show the shortcomings and everything that remains before the rights guaranteed by the new constitution are implemented.

The Taylor Committee sees the report as an important milestone. The same applies to unemployment insurance reform. On the other hand, the great social differences are described as an obstacle to many South Africans' right to social assistance and social security.

Water to several

The government boasts of a number of important improvements that not least benefit the poorest. Access to clean water has increased. 8,4 new million people have gained such access. Access to electricity for lighting has improved, new 3,8 million people have received this. A significant number of homes have also been built, 1,5 million people have received "formal" homes. The proportion who can read and write among 15-24-year-olds is up to 96 per cent, an increase of thirteen per cent over ten years. However, the Anti-Privatization Forum, another social organization, points out that because of privatization, many people are losing access because they cannot pay.

In addition to the fight against poverty and unemployment, two themes have been central to the election campaign: HIV / AIDS and crime. Bafana illustrates well how these are issues that affect the individual's everyday life. Although he can be said to be a resourceful youth, he has been on his way into a criminal career and faced a lengthy prison term, something the police eventually revealed he had not done. Prisons are overcrowded and many are infected with HIV. Sentenced and detained prisoners are kept in the same cell. The use of custody is summary, and the way to avoid it is to pay bail. The poor cannot, and they are mostly black or colored.

Thus, legal certainty is still linked to race. However, with high crime it is difficult to understand a more humane crime policy. Nevertheless, the crime policy is also on the government's boast list. Serious crime has gone down.

In the back

South Africa has received a lot of negative attention for its AIDS policy. The government that took over in 1994 had so many obvious challenges that the fight against AIDS came in the back. Social structures that followed apartheid prompted the spread of infection. Today, South Africa is one of the worst affected countries. According to UNAIDS, approx. Twenty percent of the age group 15-49 years are infected with HIV. Efforts to combat AIDS have multiplied in recent years, and considerable preventive work is being done.

The big discussion in South Africa has been about the public health system's distribution of medicines. Now this is finally coming into place, after much hesitation from the Minister of Health who has been more concerned with health food than with medicines in the fight against AIDS. The driver has been Treatment Action Campaign, another of the social movements.

Steady economic growth

Alister Sparks is an internationally recognized South African journalist. He believes that the South African wonder is bigger than we can imagine. He claims that the starting point in 1994 was very poor. The international framework conditions have not been good in the years that have passed. Nevertheless, the country has enjoyed steady economic growth.

Although there have been improvements in a number of areas, growth has not been large enough to lift the poorest to a radically better level. Increased unemployment may in the long run undermine the positive development.

The author Antjie Krog asks why it is the case that the blacks say that nothing has changed, while the whites say that everything has changed. A young man in Sharpeville said the following when we asked him about the ANC and how long he would give them to bring about better social development: I will at least give them another five years – that is, an election period.

Has the government managed to meet the challenges of the miserable financial allocation? Behind the ANC and the anti-apartheid movement stood an alliance of trade unions, church and social groups. The same forces now seem to find each other in new political fields. In the election campaign, the ANC has run a fight against poverty and job creation. The comments following the election, from President Thabo Mbeki, among others, have been that now we must deliver.

Bafana wants out of the township's brutal poverty. He has fought for, and got the chance to, education. But for the mass of South African township youth it needs more than individual solutions.

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