Nelson Mandela's electoral victory in the first democratic 1994 general election signified the end of

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

in South Africa, a system of widespread racially-based segregation to enforce almost complete separation of different races in South Africa. Under the apartheid system, South Africans were classified into four different races: White, Black, Coloured, and Indian/Asian, with about 80% of the South African population classified as Black, 9% as White, 9% as Coloured, and 2% as Indian/Asian. 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 Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is oft ...

, indices for poverty,

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the refere ...

income inequality There are wide varieties of economic inequality, most notably income inequality measured using the distribution of income (the amount of money people are paid) and wealth inequality measured using the distribution of wealth (the amount of we ...

life expectancy Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average time an organism is expected to live, based on the year of its birth, current age, and other demographic factors like sex. The most commonly used measure is life expectancy at birth ...

and

land ownership In common law systems, land tenure, from the French verb "tenir" means "to hold", is the legal regime in which land owned by an individual is possessed by someone else who is said to "hold" the land, based on an agreement between both individual ...

, have declined due to the increase in population; with the end of the apartheid system in South Africa leaving the country

socio-economically Socioeconomics (also known as social economics) is the social science that studies how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes. In general it analyzes how modern societies progress, stagnate, or regress because of their loc ...

stratified by race. Subsequent government policies have sought to correct inequity with varying amounts of success.

Possible causes of post-apartheid inequality

Unemployment

South Africa has extremely high

rates. The overall unemployment rate was 26% in 2004, Redistribution aims to transfer White-owned commercial farms to Black South Africans.

Restitution The law of restitution is the law of gains-based recovery, in which a court orders the defendant to ''give up'' their gains to the claimant. It should be contrasted with the law of compensation, the law of loss-based recovery, in which a court ...

involves giving compensation to land lost to Whites due to apartheid, racism, and discrimination. Land tenure reform strives to provide more secure access to land. 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. The Restitution of Land Rights Act of 1994 guided the implementation of restitution and gave it a legal basis. 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. 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. Very few restitution claims have been resolved. In the five years following the land reform programmes were instituted, only 1% of land changed hands, despite the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

’s goal of 30%.

The Reconstruction and Development Programme

The Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) was a

socio-economic Socioeconomics (also known as social economics) is the social science that studies how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes. In general it analyzes how modern societies progress, stagnate, or regress because of their local ...

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 Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, hum ...

between income quartiles. The spatial

segregation Segregation may refer to: Separation of people * Geographical segregation, rates of two or more populations which are not homogenous throughout a defined space * School segregation * Housing segregation * Racial segregation, separation of humans ...

continues to affect educational opportunities. Black and low-income students face geographic barriers to good schools, which are usually located in affluent neighbourhoods. While South Africans enter

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after comple ...

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

, compared to only 14.3% of Coloureds and 12% of Blacks. As of 2013, the global competitiveness survey 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.

References

{{reflist Apartheid in South Africa History of South Africa Racism in South Africa Racial segregation

Possible causes of post-apartheid inequality

Unemployment

The Reconstruction and Development Programme

See also

References