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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Overview of Poverty Situation and Reduction in South Africa for the Past Ten Years |
Author: | Swartz, Leon |
Year: | 2004 |
Periodical: | African Population Studies |
Volume: | 19 Supplement A |
Pages: | 47-84 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | South Africa |
Subjects: | poverty inequality unemployment Economics and Trade Development and Technology Politics and Government |
External link: | http://www.bioline.org.br/pdf?ep04021 |
Abstract: | Poverty and inequality are some of the major development challenges facing South Africa after ten years of democracy. Since 1994, major efforts have been made by the new government to tackle issues with regard to poverty and inequality within the framework of the Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) strategy and the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). Strategies that the current government has undertaken to address development amongst the disavantaged are land distribution, the promotion of small, micro and medium enterprises (SMMEs) and the public works programme. However, huge inequalities still exist, although a black elite middle class is starting to establish itself. This paper argues that rural poverty is more common than urban poverty, and identifies the categories of people who are especially vulnerable: female-headed households, disabled people, the elderly, retrenched farm workers, cross-border migrants, 'street homeless', AIDS orphans and households with AIDS sufferers. It shows that poverty is linked to the labour market, that reversing the trend towards greater impoverishment will require a reverseal of the decline of formal sector employment, and that other strategies will only help at the margins unless thoroughly modified. The paper concludes with suggestions for policy-related research on poverty and poverty-related issues. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [ASC Leiden abstract] |