SA Inequality Policies Essay Flashcards
What are the factors for South African Inequality Policies?
- Black Economic Empowerment (BEE)
- Education Policies
- HIV/AIDS
- Land Reform Policies
What is background knowledge for South African Inequality Policies?
- Apartheid is a system of segregation that is based on race.
- Apartheid ended in the 1990’s and the Constitution came later that same decade
- With the Constitution Blacks gained more freedom in South Africa, specifically political freedom
- This doesn’t mean that the SA society was equal, Blacks continued to struggle
What is your knowledge for BEE?
- The jobs that Blacks could do during Apartheid were very restricted
- The end of Apartheid gave Blacks political freedom but economic inequalities remained
What are examples for BEE?
- In 2003, SA introduced BEE which aimed to positively discriminate Blacks
- This meant that there was meant to be preferential treatment towards Black-owned companies for contacts and towards Black workers for promotion to managerial positions
- There are now 5 million middle-class Blacks in SA who are known as ‘Black Diamons’
What is your analysis for BEE?
- BEE is significant as since its introduced there has been a reduction in economic inequality in SA
- The policy can be criticised as it has not been implemented properly and although some power has been transferred, it has not been transformed
- SA is known to have a ‘cappuccino society’ which is black at the bottom with a layer of white on top with only a sprinkling of black, showing there has only been small improvements in economic inequality
What is your evaluation for BEE?
Some gaps have closed but there needs to be a stricter policy implemented to eliminate economic inequality.
What is your knowledge for Education Policies?
- During Apartheid it wasn’t common for Blacks to receive education and if they did they received ‘Bantu Education’ which was poor quality and had a restricted curriculum
- Reduced University requirements were introduced for Black students along with tuition fees being scrapped for low income families
- In 2024, a Bill was introduced which will hopefully help to create more equal education and address the barriers for Blacks entering private education such as Afrikaans being used
What are examples for Education Policies?
- SA spend 20% of their budget on education
- 65% of university students are Black but still, Whites are 5x more likely to go
What is your analysis for Education Policies?
- Due to SA spending 20% of their budget on education they have been able to train more Black teachers, reduce class sizes and build new schools which replaced ‘plankie’ schools in Townships and Homelands
- There has been a reduction to the attainment gap and with that there are now more equal economic opportunities when leaving education
- There is now an increased level of Black university students which is now allowing Blacks to enter higher paying professions
What is your evaluation for Education Policies?
There have been significant improvements to education but there needs to be equal education provided for Blacks and Whites for this issue to be tackled.
What is your knowledge for HIV/AIDS?
- SA have the had the highest HIV/AIDS rates since 1997, currently having 8 million people who are HIV+
- After a decade of AIDS-denialism policies began to be introduced in the country in 2009
- There has been campaigning for HIV testing and for the use of condoms, making them freely accessible in places such as schools
What are examples for HIV/AIDS?
- There are 5 million people now receiving ART which suppresses HIV and makes it non-infectious and can help to prevent HIV from progressing to AIDS
- Viral suppression was at 10% in 2009 but now it ia 80% in 2024
- 90% now know their status (whether they are HIV+ or not)
- Cases have fallen by 300,000 and deaths have fallen by 180,000 between 2009 and 2024
What is your analysis for HIV/AIDS?
- There has been an increased level of awareness which helps to make people more aware of HIV and encourages them to want to get tested
- There are barriers for Blacks when receiving ART such as affording to travel to receive the treatment and the high rape rates in Townships
- The US have withdrawn their funding which now is forcing HIV clinics to close as the US made up 17% of the SA’s HIV/AIDs funding
What is your evaluation for HIV/AIDS?
The policies that have been introduced by the SA government have been very successful but now due to funding issues the success may be undone and HIV/AIDS may increase in the country again.
What is your knowledge for Land Reform Policies?
- Before and during Apartheid Blacks were forced off rural lands and onto homelands which were the least fertile for farming
- In 1994 the govt. made a promise to reform 30% of the land back to Blacks within 5 years with the ‘willing buyer, willing seller’ policy
- In January 2025 a new policy was implemented which had the intentions of seizing land form White without compensations if it was in the publics interest (e.g. abandoned land)
What are examples for Land Reform Policies?
- Racial tensions have risen and this can prominently been seen in EFF rallies where they use the chant ‘Kill the Boer, Kill the Farmer’
- There are also 60 White farmers killed per year which is a concerningly high number
What is your analysis for Land Reform Policies?
- This policy has been very unsuccessful as only 10% of land has been transferred back to Blacks over the last 30 years and Whites continue to own 70% of land despite only making up 8% of the population
- Land reform being unsuccessful could be relayed onto the fact that it only takes 1% of govt. spending
- The 2025 policy sees an improvement but it is concerning due to fact that the Blacks who are buying these farms may lack the farming and commercial skills for this which could be detrimental to the SA economy
What is your evaluation for Land Reform Policies?
Land Reform has been very unsuccessful for SA but in 2025 there is new hope for land to be reformed even though this policy is facing severe backlash from Whites.
