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Factual Essay on Poverty and Inequality in South Africa

Poverty is defined as the lack of necessities that are food, clothing and shelter. Poverty is determined by income of an individual, household or even the entire economy. Poverty line was introduced in 1990 to measure the rate of poverty in poor countries. Initially, the poverty measure was at a dollar per day. In the year 2008, the World Bank changed it to $ 1.25 until 2015 when it was reset at $1.90 per day. Therefore anyone who earns below this amount on a daily basis is considered to be poor. On the other hand, social inequality occurs when the available resources are distributed unevenly. Some of the examples of social inequality include income gap and gender inequality.

Poverty and social inequality are not only undesirable in South Africa but also other parts of the world. According to the World Banks record, 10% of the world’s population lives in extreme poverty (Word Bank 2019). As of 2015, the World Bank reported that approximately 736 million people are living at the US $ 1.90 a day or less. According to UNICEF South Africa’s report released in 2015, 55.5% of the country’s population was living below the upper-bound poverty line. The upper-poverty bond used to estimate the percentages of those living in poverty was ZAR 992 per person per month. In South Africa, anyone living below that amount is poor.

Poverty and social inequality are directly associated with various social evils in society. South Africa is one of the leading countries in terms of crime rates. In the financial year 2016/2017, the South African media reported that murder cases increased to 52 per day. This is an alarming rate that should be avoided. Research indicates that poverty is the main driver of social evils. According to a report published by Business Tech, the South African police department reported that a total of 2.09 million crimes were reported in 2018 (Chigunta, 2017: p449)  Apart from the contact crimes such as murder, other crimes In South Africa include robbery, shoplifting, hijacking, and cash-in-transit heist. Concerning the types of crimes, poverty is the main course. Actually, robbery and cash-in-transit heist are caused by lack of financial or even basic needs.

Saudien et al., 2019 noted that poverty is mostly aligned to women in South Africa. In other words, they found that women are affected by poverty than men. During the apartheid period, women were forced to live in the rural areas. Some of the women could get support from their husbands who worked as mere labourers. In addition, most of the children in the villages lived with their mothers and or grandmothers. Since the official end of apartheid in 1994, South Africa has been struggling to combat poverty.

Government’s increased spending on poverty reduces the rate of development. Some funds which would have been used to build other social amenities such as schools and hospitals are used on social development projects. Particularly, alleviating poverty is the main agenda of social development. According to the estimates of National Expenditure 2018, the consolidated social development budget in South Africa was 192.8 ZAR billion (Budlernder et al., 2017: p67). The amount was allocated to various provinces according to the poverty leave. For instance, 15.9% of the amount was allocated to Kwazulu-Natal, a province with a population of approximately 10.8 million people. This amount of money could have been used in other activities. Therefore, poverty is undesirable as far as the development of any country is concerned.

Poverty is also associated with inequality. Inequality incorporates differences between various groups of people in society. In South Africa, inequality is evident between the white population and the black population. Statistics indicate that South Africa is one of the countries that are occupied by people of different races. However, inequality is attributed to different races in the country. There is a large gap between the rich and the poor. Notably, research indicates that per capita income is not the standard measure of a country’s living standards. In many developing countries, the per capita income is left in the hands of the rich. Regardless of the per capita income of a country, poverty cannot is still evident. In the year 2017, the World Bank reported that South Africa’s per capita income was 13,090 PPP dollars (Mawere, 2017: p11).

The rate of inequality has promoted poverty in South Africa. Over the years, poverty has been aligned to the black population in South Africa. They are considered to be living in poverty than the white population. In addition, the capitalism nature of the economy contributes to inequality. The rich tend to have more while the poor tend to lack more. The taxes imposed on good and services affect both the rich and the poor. Therefore, economic nature encourages inequality. Inequality can also be defined in terms of gender. In this case, one gender can be considered superior to the other. In the early centuries, women were considered inferior to men. As a result, most of the job opportunities were given to men. Women depended on the provisions from men. In African tradition, education was considered to be relevant to men. The women were entitled to different chores. This led to a high rate of inequality between men and women in the early years. After independence, many countries in Africa started to embrace equality in different measures. South Africa was among the nations that started to embrace equality after independence.

Inequality has also promoted crimes. Ideally, robbery is associated with inequality such that the rich are robbed by those who are lacking. In fact, robbers target those who have something that can attract them. In the long run, poverty and inequality lead to conflict and lack of peace Cluver et al., 2016: p96). Peaceful co-existence is promoted by equality in the distribution of resources as well as effective control measures for poverty. For a country to encourage peaceful co-existence among its citizens, it should come up with effective strategies to address poverty and inequality. A country that has employed effective strategies to combat inequality is likely to meet other development needs (Patel et al., 2017: p66). Constitutional amendment and other legal actions are some of the steps of promoting equality in a country (Cluver et al., 2016: p76) Governments can decide to enact laws to protect people regardless of gender, race or income level. People should be treated equally. If such strategies are implemented, the government will be able to control and to prevent the increasing level of inequality. Moreover, equal distribution of resources can reduce the rate of inequality in a country.

Poverty is a dynamic phenomenon in South Africa. Since the year 1994, the South African government has employed different measures to alleviate poverty among its population. South Africa is considered one of the middle-income level countries in the world (Agostino, 2016: P201) However, it is also considered as the most developed countries in Africa. Despite the fact that the county might seem rich in terms of minerals endowment, poverty is a national problem that affects a good number of the country’s population. The Guardian reported that many of the 45% of South Africa’s non-poor population fall into poverty over time. This is a clear indication that poverty is dynamic. The response to poverty alleviation should target the current and future phenomenon.

The World Bank’s economic report of South Africa indicated that the country is an extremely unequal society. The report was based on economic and social factors of the country. Despite the fact that the country perceives to be independent, inequality is evident in South African society. Racism is one of the factors that attribute to inequality in South Africa. Racism is a dangerous factor that causes rivalry among citizens. In South Africa, racism is evident between the white population and the black population. If the country does not address the state of inequality, racism is likely to persist in the coming years.

In addition, economic inequality is a major problem in South Africa. Unemployment rate is higher than that of 1994. This means that post-apartheid period is affected by many economic challenges leading to poverty. Most of the unemployed people in South Africa live in informal settlements such as Alexandria. According to a report released by Aljazeera on the livelihood of those who are living in Alexandria, South Africa, access to social amenities is a major problem due to extreme poverty. Some of the people cannot afford three meals in a day. Those who can afford are likely to suffer from malnutrition due to lack of healthy diet. The difference between the rich and the poor is worrying (Bundy, 2019). The trend shows that the rate is likely to increase in the coming years. With the current regime that is affected by different challenges such as corruption, reducing inequality rate would be difficult. However, the government can try to adopt some strategies such as fir distribution of resources to prevent the increasing rate of inequality

The government has a role in ensuring that the country is stable both economically and socially. Inequality and poverty are both economic and social problems. Wealth inequality has been rising in the country over the past years. Moreover, the rate is likely to increase even further due to the economic situation (Gouws, 2017: p31). The government can be responsible for some of the economic situations in the country. However, some of the natural are not controlled by the government (Gloppen, 2019: p33). The future of poverty and inequality in South Africa depend on the actions taken by the government to address various issues. The existence of the opposition party in the country has also helped in addressing some of the issues associated with poverty and inequality. For the purposes of future developments, the country should adopt effective measures to alleviate poverty.

Notably, the key factor that can be used to reduce the rate of inequality is job creation. Based on the country’s economic report, the unemployment rate has been experiencing an increasing trend since the year 2016 (Tibesigwa and Visser, 2016: p39). In 2016, the unemployment rate was estimated at 27.1%. Currently, the unemployment rate is approximately 29%. This steady increase shows that many people are entering the job market but there are not enough opportunities to accommodate them. If the trend persists in the next five to ten years, the rate of poverty and inequality is likely to increase. On average, the persistent unemployment rate stands at 27% (Fine, 2018: p55). The future poverty level depends on the current job creation. For the country to reduce inequality level, the government should create job opportunities for the youth including the fresh graduates who are most affected by the unemployment rate.

According to the World Economic Forum on Global Competitiveness Report, South Africa fell five places. The decrease was driven by the high incidence of communicable diseases and an increasing rate of homicides (Lustig, 2016: p54). These problems affect the rate of a country’s development measures. Moreover, South Africa has a low ICT adoption; it fell to 85^th place on the Global Competitiveness Report 2018.

Despite being a middle-income economy, South Africa still suffers from food poverty. The government’s increased spending on food security has led to a reduction in food poverty since the early 2000s. As a result, the government has concentrated on ensuring that the population has adequate food and good healthcare facilities. In addition to government spending, the United Nations Development program working in South Africa has also helped in reducing the poverty level (Atanguba et al., 2015: p288). Furthermore, other world organizations such as the UKAID and the USAID have helped in alleviating poverty in different parts of the world including South Africa. These efforts have helped a good number of people who are living in poverty.

According to the research carried out by Davie (2015) on ‘Poverty knowledge in South Africa’, the post-apartheid regimes have been accused of failing to address the basic needs of the citizens. As far as poverty is concerned, the historical changes in the country have attributed to South Africa’s poverty challenge. In some extent, the poverty challenge is considered to be apolitical (Beegle et al., 2016: p34). The white supremacy has been accused by the local leaders to be the source of inequality in the country. The study noted that poverty is attributed to the historical nature of the country. In this case, the apartheid regime was brought about by the white supremacy.

The study of the Neo-Classical theory of discrimination suggests that unequal treatment leads to an increase in the poverty level of a nation (Lundahl & Wadensjo, 2015:22). Unequal treatment dates back to the pre-colonial period in South Africa. The black population was not entitled to fair treatment as the white. The good schools and hospitals were meant for rich people. The poor people could not afford some of the best medical facilities and schools. As a result, inequality began to increase the country’s populations. In any society, unequal treatment has different shortcomings. People who are treated unequally can be ruthless to their oppressors, in the long run; various social problems such as robbery can increase.

Inequality in South Africa is attributed to the country’s struggle during the apartheid regime. The country was divided based on racial lines. The Dutch, the British and Africans operated differently. The division created rivalry among the citizens. Poverty is also linked to the apartheid period. At that time, there was an unequal distribution of resources since some of the races were considered to be superior. The black population was considered too inferior. In addition, South Africa was ruled by the white until the regime of the first black president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela. Since the end of apartheid in 1994, the country has struggled to reduce the poverty and inequality levels.

The research carried out by Buldlender et al. (2017) found that there is no legislation poverty line in South Africa. Money-Metric thresholds can be used to determine the level of poverty in the country. Poverty is always measured in terms of money. Those who have a lot of money are considered to be rich while the poor are regarded as those who cannot afford basic needs. The vulnerability to poverty in developing countries is caused by different factors. Apart from economic aspects, the political situation also influences the rate of poverty. If the government comes up with effective measures to reduce unemployment, poverty level can be reduced.

A case study done by Turok and Saladin (2018) found that the slums people who are living in slums are subjected to extreme poverty. The determinant of the poverty level is the living condition. Poor people tend to live under difficult conditions for survival. The rural population is also affected by poverty. Some families depend on the working class. Based on the economic situation, wages cannot support many people. The poverty level is also influenced by the wages and salaries paid to the civil servants as well as the private sector. South African statistics indicate that three million more people have been pushed to poverty. This number shows that more efforts are needed to alleviate poverty in South Africa.

Research showed that female-headed households felt the experience of poverty. Poverty in South Africa is estimated based on gender and age. Women and children have the highest number of the poverty level. The increase in poverty has caused problems in different families. Other than South Africa, some African countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo is ranked top as the poorest country in the world (Lewis, 2017: p22). Despite the endowment of natural resources including gold and diamond, the poverty level is still high. Many people tend to ask the question, where is the problem? The answers to this question have been researched by various scholars. However, the problem of poverty and inequality rests upon the hands of the authorities. Apart from the government, some international bodies such as Amnesty International should help in reducing the level of inequality by protecting human rights.

South Africa is a member state of the United Nation. In 2015, the UN adopted eight sustainable development goals that should be achieved by all member states by the year 2030 (Mejiwa et al., 2014). Prior to the establishment of sustainable goals, the United Nations adopted millennial development goals that were to be achieved by 2015. By the year 2015, most of the member states had achieved some of the goals. The main emphasis on the sustainable development goals is in poverty and inequality reduction. The United Nations is committed to ensuring that all member states alleviate poverty through amicable means. The two factors are the major courses of slow development in any country. Poverty causes slow social and economic growth. Social growth entails the various aspects of society such as crime rate. Inequality also promotes economic problems in terms of employment opportunities.

Despite the current rate of poverty in South Africa, the government can promote economic development by establishing industries. Apart from the food support programs, the government should liaise with the local industries to provide agricultural support to the peasant farmers. The land in rural areas should be used for large scale production of cash crops. The farmers should be encouraged by giving out incentives. In regards to inequality, the South African legislators should enact laws to protect the rights of every citizen regardless of their racial differences (Ravallion, 2017: p21). The mixed economy should also be embraced to reduce both poverty and inequality levels in the country.

According to Therborn 2019, poverty and inequality in South Africa is also caused by cultural believes. In Cape Town and other parts of the country, women are not given the same opportunities as compared to men. Moreover, polygamy leads to poverty in such a way that the new wives are valued while the older women are neglected. This cultural perspective has significantly contributed to poverty and inequality in South Africa. Many scholars suggest that cultural practices are some of the root courses of poverty in South Africa. Cultural practices such as polygamy was there before apartheid. Such practices are still evident in the post-apartheid period.

Poverty situation in South Africa is also attributed to the concept of minority group theory. This theory tends to describe the characteristics of the poor (Bradshaw, 2007). Actually, it describes the cause of poverty in the context of a household. Based on this theory, poverty is caused by the death of the bred-winner, illness, old age, large families and even low wages. In South African context, HIV/AIDS has causes many deaths hence leading to increase of poverty. A greater number of families in Cape Town and Alexandria are living without the chief wage-earner.

In conclusion, poverty and social inequality in South Africa is attributed to the historical orientation of the country. During the apartheid period, many women were forced to live in the rural areas. Consequently, men were forced to work for low wages that could not support their families. The existence of informal settlement in some parts of the country is an evidence of poverty. For instance, those who are living in Soweto and Alexandria hardly access clean water, healthy food and even social amenities.

The post-apartheid period is subjected to the economic orthodox that enriches those who have the opportunity. On the other hand, those who lack opportunities dude to social inequalities tend to live below the poverty line. This has led to an increase in the gap between the rich and the poor. The minority group theory and the cultural practices also explain the state of poverty in South Africa.

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