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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Human insecurity: the problem of poverty, unemployment and social exclusion
Author:Makinana, MxolisiISNI
Year:2009
Periodical:African Security Review
Volume:18
Issue:2
Pages:116-122
Language:English
Geographic term:South Africa
Subjects:human security
poverty
government policy
External link:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10246029.2009.9627534
Abstract:Much of the conflict troubling South Africa and the African continent today is a result of poverty, unemployment and social exclusion. In pursuit of their right to earn a living, rural people migrate to urban areas. Unfortunately, South African urban areas are characterized by expanding populations but without concomitant expanding economies. The number of squatter settlements increases. A major cause of conflict stems from housing shortage and the struggle for space. Although poverty eradication has been a major priority for the present government, it has not been realized on a large scale. The government's approach looks at the effects of poverty rather than its roots. The author argues that the poor must organize themselves to eradicate the causes of ill health, inadequate housing and the like, and to create the conditions to prevent them from recurring. But is the South African State, with its present structure, able to create an environment that would allow the poor to organize themselves? The State must be restructured from being a network of relations built around a dominant individual to a set of impartial institutions serving the general interest. In this respect, the author looks at populist versus popular leaders, and the role of intellectuals in the assessment of political parties and leadership. Notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]
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