Inter Press Service - December 14, 2001
Farah Khan

This had an impact on the new democracy and on its ability to develop a country left stunned by the economic ravages of apartheid.

By signing the pact, South Africa's new leaders pledged to bring down tariffs, as well as open economic borders to capital flows and usher in an information age. Like many developing countries, it was not ready.

"At the very moment when the political changed wrought by democratic impulses were bringing the structures of apartheid crushing down, new pressures were arising to widen the gap between rich and poor," says Francis Wilson.

Wilson is a co-author of the South Africa survey, a pre-eminent barometer of development trends, released this week.

These pressures, the Survey referred to, included the economic shifts which entering the global economy entailed. This has had an impact on the redistribution or creation of wealth.

The annual survey has found few changes in the wealth gap - those South Africans at the bottom of the income pile are getting poorer and they are overwhelmingly black.

At the top end, the colour of money is changing. "Among the wealthiest 20 percent of South African society, a clear process of deracialisation, in terms of income, is under way. But the base of pyramid has stayed the same. Poverty remains to be endured overwhelmingly by African households," says Wilson.

For Wilson, this poses a key challenge to policy-makers in government and that is to recognise the interconnectedness between "employment, education and the economy".

As the economy has shifted from old sectors like mining and manufacturing into trade and services, workers have not been able to keep up, leading to downward employment trends - with black unemployment again highest. This is because the skills that are required to power the economic growth areas are concentrated in the wealthiest population groups.

Viewed through such a prism, the good news in the Survey is that education levels are beginning to tick up, but off a very low base.

Also important, said the South African Institute of Race Relations chief executive John Kane-Berman, is the fact that the country appears to be reversing the downward trend in university enrolment - crucial if the country is to reap the benefits of economic restructuring.

But, again, too few black students are entering the professions where employment is most likely. In computer studies, a growth sector, white student enrolment still outstrips the African rate by three to one. The picture is similar for engineering, maths, agriculture and business enrolment.

According to the Survey, infant mortality rate is coming down, but this is undercut by the consistently growing number of pregnant women found to be HIV-positive in the annual national test at public antenatal clinics.

While government is increasing the rate of delivery of housing, water and sanitation, the move by rural people to the cities has made development planning more difficult.

While government has built one million low-cost houses by the end of last year, the demand is growing, especially in the cities. This also has meant that the rate of informal housing construction is increasing.

Another Survey co-author, Lawrence Schlemmer, found that while government had in place model social policies and the ruling African National Congress's efforts to model itself as a "developmental state", it still faced a population growing more and more unhappy with their socio-economic circumstances.

In a survey of 2,144 adults in July, about six in 10 people in low-income households said they were dissatisfied.

"The devil has been in the detail of delivery," says Schlemmer. He points to several factors that have impeded the ANC's ability to implement its policies or to ensure that the impact is deeper.

Middle class migration out of poor areas was making cross- subsidisation and cost-recovery for services more difficult; HIV/AIDS and unemployment had an impact on the productive population and too many policies were being implemented at the same time.

In addition, while social spending as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) is within international best practice rations, the civil service did not always have the capacity to spend.
011214
IP011211

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1980, 2001. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .