Poverty and inequality in South Africa: critical reflections

Figures & data

Table 1. Race and poverty in South Africa, 2015.

Population group	Non-poor	Poor
African	29.25	70.75
Coloured	43.22	56.78
Asian/Indian	79.53	20.47
White	95.94	4.06

Sources: Finn (2015).

Table 2. Components of income inequality in South Africa.

	Absolute contribution	Relative contribution
Wages	0.6	90.65%
Government Grants	−0.01	−1.04%
Remittances	0.06	8.53%
Investment	0.01	1.87%
Total	0.66	100%

Source: (Finn, 2015).

Figure 1. South Africa’s per capita income. Source: (National Treasury, 2017).

Table 3. Unemployment in South Africa.

Indicator (%)	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Unemployment rate (narrow)	22.50	23.70	24.90	24.80	24.90	24.70	25.10	25.30	26.70	27.70

Source: (Statistics South Africa, 2017).

Finn, A, 2015. A national minimum wage in the context of the South African labour market. http://nationalminimumwage.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/NMW-RI-Descriptive-Statistics-Final.pdf. Accessed 10 September 2017.

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National Treasury, 2017. Medium term budget policy statement. http://www.treasury.gov.za/documents/MTBPS/2017/mtbps/FullMTBPS.pdf. Accessed 1 November 2017.

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South African History Online, 2017. South Africa—First 20 years of democracy: Key economic policy changes 1994-2013. http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/south-africa%E2%80%99s-key-economic-policies-changes-1994-2013 Accessed 13 March 2018.

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