The ‘politics of poverty' in a post-apartheid South African metropolis

Abstract

[Abstract More than ten years after South Africa celebrated its first democratic election the post-apartheid state finds itself confronting mass protests reminiscent of popular struggles in the apartheid era, as poor people demand houses, jobs and speedier delivery of basic services. South Africa is currently experiencing high levels of poverty and widening gulfs between the wealthy and poor of all racial groups. Whether the circumstances of the poor are getting worse or not in post-apartheid South Africa has been a subject of heated debate between government officials, academics and civil society activists. Whilst government points to social grants and poverty alleviation programmes in place, critics suggest that the adoption of neo-liberal policies, rising unemployment and the failure to elicit the participation of the poor in constructing ameliorative interventions have undermined attempts to reduce economic hardship and improve people's lives. In this paper I draw on selected aspects of recent research on poverty by the University of Pretoria in four communities in the vicinity of the city. The most striking findings, in analysing and comparing the quantitative and qualitative data, relate to grassroots perceptions of unchanging or worsening socio-economic circumstances and of the exclusion of poor communities from the benefits of a transforming political economy. In seeking to situate and explain the responses, the paper argues that the deep pessimism that infuses popular discourses is shaping a robust critique of state institutions as fundamentally indifferent to the plight of the poor. In addition, although the data reflect ‘group specific’ differences insofar as poverty and insecurities are concerned, there appears to be a coalescing of political discourses and rituals of protest across racial divides.]