Nelson Mandela's electoral victory in the first democratic 1994 general election signified the end of apartheid in South Africa,^[1] a system of widespread racially-based segregation to enforce almost complete separation of different races in South Africa.^[2] Under the apartheid system, South Africans were classified into four different races: White, Black, Coloured, and Indian/Asian,^[3] with about 80% of the South African population classified as Black, 9% as White, 9% as Coloured, and 2% as Indian/Asian.^[4] Under apartheid, Whites held almost all political power in South Africa, with other races almost completely marginalised from the political process.

While the end of apartheid allowed equal rights for all South Africans regardless of race, post-apartheid South Africa struggles to correct the social inequalities created by decades of apartheid. Despite a growing gross domestic product, indices for poverty, unemployment, income inequality, life expectancy and land ownership, have declined due to the increase in population; with the end of the apartheid system in South Africa leaving the country socio-economically stratified by race.^[5] Subsequent government policies have sought to correct inequity with varying amounts of success.

Factors contributing to post-apartheid inequality in South Africa

Key legislation shaping post-apartheid inequality

South Africa has extremely high unemployment rates. The official unemployment rate is 31.9%, as of Q3 in 2023.^[6] Redistribution aims to transfer White-owned commercial farms to Black South Africans.^[7] Restitution involves giving compensation to land lost to Whites due to apartheid, racism, and discrimination.^[7] Land tenure reform strives to provide more secure access to land.^[7] Several laws have been enacted to facilitate redistribution, restitution, and land tenure reform. The Provision of Certain Land of Settlement Act of 1996 designates land for settlement purposes and ensures financial assistance to those seeking to acquire land.^[7] The Restitution of Land Rights Act of 1994 guided the implementation of restitution and gave it a legal basis.^[7] The Extension of Security of Tenure Act of 1996 helps rural communities obtain stronger rights to their land and regulates the relationships between owners of rural land and those living on it.^[7] So far, these land reform measures have been semi-effective. By 1998, over 250,000 Black South Africans received land as a result of the Land Redistribution Programme.^[7] Very few restitution claims have been resolved.^[7] In the five years following the land reform programmes were instituted, only 1% of land changed hands, despite the African National Congress’s goal of 30%.^[7]

Educational disparities

The Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) was a socio-economic programme aimed at addressing racial inequalities by creating business and education while only 4% of the wealthiest students are functionally illiterate, indicating a stark divide in literacy between income quartiles.^[8] The spatial segregation of apartheid continues to affect educational opportunities. Black and low-income students face geographic barriers to good schools, which are usually located in affluent neighbourhoods.^[8] While South Africans enter higher education in increasing numbers, there is still a stark difference in the racial distribution of these students.

Currently, about 58.5% of Whites and 51% of Indians enter some form of higher education, compared to only 14.3% of Coloureds and 12% of Blacks.^[9] As of 2013, the global competitiveness survey^[10] ranked South Africa last out of 148 for the quality of maths and science education and 146th out of 148 for the quality of general education, behind almost all African countries despite one of the largest budgets for education on the African continent. The same report lists the biggest obstacle to doing business as an "Inadequately educated workforce". Education, therefore, remains one of the poorest areas of performance in post-apartheid South Africa and one of the biggest causes of continued inequality and poverty.

Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has served to widen the gaps between existing levels of economic inequality in South Africa, and poor, black communities have been given the greatest burden largely due to insufficient government support during the pandemic.^[11] South Africa was criticized early for not enacting a travel ban on international travelers as COVID-19 began ravaging other countries.^[11] However, South Africa was quick to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic on the arrival of its first reported case as compared to Western countries, implementing a 6-week lock down only 22 days after the first confirmed case of COVID-19 was reported in South Africa early in March.^[12][13] Restrictions included a ban on international travelers, school closures, and the prohibition of large group gatherings including 100 people or more.^[11] School closures threatened food security for 9 million children who relied on school feeding programs to supplement daily nutrition with no back-up plan given by the government.^[14] Two weeks into the lock down further rules were implemented, including the closure of non-essential businesses and a controversial sales ban on liquor, tobacco, and vaping products.^[11] Close to 10 million low-income individuals lost their jobs during this time.^[14]

As the 6-week lock down came to an end, South Africa began to reduce the severity of lock down rules, citing successful containment, but the South African government was criticized for inflating positive results of early containment procedures without evidence to support their claims.^[12] Hospitals already lacked the resources to handle their pre-COVID case loads and were quickly overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases early on in the pandemic, necessitating other health problems to be sidelined.^[11] Domestic violence cases against women and children in the lower economic classes skyrocketed.^[14] An emergency food box program was eventually created to fight food insecurity, but most poor communities never received the help.^[13] Less than 100,000 of the boxes were distributed across South Africa in the first year and a half of the program’s creation.^[14] Economically disadvantaged communities found immense fault with the inequitable government efforts regarding food allocation, testing centers, and the distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE).^[11] Brewing public frustration over economic losses, lock down measures, the lack of available medical interventions, and the arrest of former South African president Jacob Zuma resulted in widely attended protests that devolved into destructive riots in KwaZulu-Natal and Johannesburg in 2021.^[13] The events now known as the 2021 South African unrest, the Zuma riots, or the July 2021 riots, escalated into the most severe violence South Africa has witnessed since the conclusion of apartheid, and resulted in the arrests of over 5,500 individuals and the deaths of 354.^[11]

Wealth inequality