Explore South Africa: A Country Research

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Country Research: South Africa
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Country Research: Homework 2
Introduction to the country,
According to Jacobs (2019), South Africa is Africa’s southernmost country and
Africa’s most populous and industrialized economy. As of today, South Africa is a global
leader in gold and diamond production. Over 8 million people live in Johannesburg and its
surrounding cities, which account for 9 percent of Africa’s total economic output (Jacobs,
2019). A democratic South Africa, or “rainbow nation,” has emerged in the 21st century,
symbolizing the country’s diverse population. Joblessness and the spread of AIDS threaten
the country’s economic success as it attempts to make up for years and years of social
upheaval and educational loss (Jacobs et al., 2019). The cultural and ethnic diversity of South
Africa is well-known. South Africa’s cultural landscape is as diversified as it gets. In rural
areas of South Africa, many black South Africans still languish in poverty. Even though the
black South Africans retain the strongest cultural traditions, traditional components of black
South African culture have dwindled as the country has become more urbanized and
westernized. Besides their mother tongue, urban black South Africans commonly
communicate in English or Afrikaans (Jacobs et al., 2019). A small but significant minority
speaks the Khoisan languages of black people. This paper is a country research that discusses
various aspects of South Africa.
Poverty and Homelessness
Since the apartheid era, squatters and homeless people have lived on South Africa’s
streets and squats. African-Americans were barred from owning and living on property
earmarked for mining by the 1885 Gold Law. As a result, there has been a long history of
housing shortages and overcrowding in black suburbs, both a product of apartheid and a
problem of the post-apartheid era (Tenai & Mbewu, 2020). South Africa’s homelessness

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problem is exacerbated by a lack of housing, high unemployment, and urbanization.
According to the United Nations, as of 2015, there were 200,000 people on the streets alone,
and almost 79 percent of the population was living below the poverty line (Tenai & Mbewu,
2020). Economic and social insecurity is exacerbated by the lack of government regulation
and informal housing, contributing to homelessness.
Individuals who live on the streets face greater financial strain because they can’t
acquire riches like those in shacks. Even when the economy improves, the unemployment
rate remains at 27 percent, increasing the number of homeless people (Gouveia, 2020). An
analysis of the efficiency of solutions to urban homelessness in South Africa. On the street,
there is a lack of agreement on the overall number of homeless people. Between 100,000 and
200,000 people are estimated to be living on the streets of the United States (Gouveia, 2020).
Street children and lone adults are the most common sight on the streets, rather than entire
families. The majority of the people living on the streets are black and male. On the streets,
men predominate, while women predominate in the shanty communities. A study showed that
homeless shelters in Cape Town were populated by three times as many men as women
(Gouveia, 2020). Because a bigger proportion of the native area is poorer than in urban
regions, rural areas have a greater proportion of the homeless population.
Wage Inequality
According to the World Bank, gender wage disparity loses the world an estimated
US$160 trillion in human capital wealth each year (Kerr & Wittenberg, 2021). It is a problem
of justice, not merely fairness when people are treated unequally. Ineffective resource
allocation and impeded poverty alleviation approaches make it unattractive. According to
Kerr & Wittenberg (2021), families headed by a woman in South Africa are more likely than
families headed by a man to be poor when the income from the labor market amounts to more

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than 85% of total family income. South Africa’s gender pay gap had narrowed from over
40% in the 1990s to about 15% in 2015, and it only decreased to a certain degree in 2007 and
has stayed there ever since, at 16 percent (Kerr & Wittenberg, 2021).
Over the long run, the wage discrepancy between the 10th and 90th percentiles of the
wage distribution has decreased significantly. In addition, the median wage gap between men
and women hasn’t budged significantly over the past few decades (Kerr & Wittenberg, 2021).
This trend has flipped between 1993 and 2015, with a rising, mysterious gap at the 90th
percentile. The South African labor market has a “sticky floor” effect, which indicates that
the lowest-earning jobs have the most female employees (Kerr & Wittenberg, 2021). Women
in South Africa are less likely than males to hold the highest-paying occupations in the
economy, which explains why the gender wage gap is most pronounced in the top 10% of
earners.
Civil Rights and Racial Discrimination
Although legal discrimination based on race was abolished in South Africa with the
fall of apartheid, the government continues to utilize racial classifications to keep tabs on
economic progress, which continues to be controversial. Statistics South Africa, for example,
requires people to identify themselves in terms of five racial categories while filling out the
census (Castillo, 2020). Racism in South Africa has been reignited in the wake of apartheid’s
demise, and the attention is now on the fraught relationship between blacks and “colored.”
There are a variety of racial backgrounds among South Africa’s “colored,” who are a mix of
black African and white Europeans and other ethnic groups. Approximately 4.4 million of
South Africa’s 50 million citizens are classified as “colored.” Whites make up 9% of the
population, while blacks make up 79%, and Asians make up 2% (Castillo, 2020). Since the
1700s, the people of South Africa have had a distinct dialect, food, and culture because of

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their ancestry as people of color. Most of them are opposed to the African National Congress
(ANC), which is now in charge.
LGBTQI Issues
Structured inequality and social stigma affect LGBT South Africans differently,
resulting in economic and social inclusion impediments. However, South Africa’s rebirth
after apartheid began in 1948 (Monro, 2020). The country’s recognition of 11 official
national languages in 1996 stances the nation to continue promoting equal rights and well-
being for its entire, diverse population. In 1948, the legally enforced racial segregation
system was implemented, and it was finally repealed in 1994 (Monro, 2020). According to
Monroe (2020), 630,000 South African adults are lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, or “other,”
and 1.1 percent of cohabiting couples claim to be in same-sex relationships.
Even though the legal position for sexual minorities (LGB) is better evolved, and
courts have upheld the rights of transgender adults, there remain major economic barriers
faced by LGBT South Africans. The rest of South Africa’s population is comprised of
“Colored” or made by mixing ancestry (8%), White (8%), Indian or Asian (2.5%), and
another ancestry (0.1%). (0.5 percent) (Monro, 2020). Twenty-five years after apartheid
stopped in 1994, South Africa is still considered one of the world’s worst levels of inequality.
It has been found that 30.9 percent of South African blacks, 16.7 percent of African-
Americans of color, and 4.2 percent of whites are unemployed (Monro, 2020). This contrasts
with 26.4 percent of African-Americans of color and 14.4 percent of whites who are
unemployed.
Health Care Availability
In South Africa, the healthcare system is divided into two parts: the public sector,
which is heavily subsidized, and the private sector, which is smaller but of higher quality.

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There is a wide disparity between healthcare facilities in many parts of the country because of
a lack of financing and access to top specialists (Burger & Christian, 2020). This means that
even while low-income workers in the public sector are eligible for reduced-price healthcare,
ex-pats should still consider purchasing a private plan. Only 19 percent of South Africans
have medical aid coverage, with rates of total coverage ranging from around one in ten (11
percent) Africans to more than three-quarters (74 percent) white people (77 percent) (Burger
& Christian, 2020). According to the results, medical insurance coverage has declined since
the previous study in 1994.
Childhood Education
It is not required for children in South Africa until they are seven years old to attend
school. There is a pre-school and Grade R pre-school option for you till then. South Africa
has two pre-school systems: one sponsored by the government and regulated by the
provinces, and the other independent and administered by communities or private
organizations (Hannaway et al., 2019). There are two major components to government and
private education programs: pre-Grade R and grade R programs. For children ages 0-4 and
ages 5-6, the Pre-Grade R programs and Grade R programs are acceptable (Hannaway et al.,
2019). The study of language, math, practical skills, technology, and the arts and cultures is
part of the curriculum. In South Africa, students can attend a public or private school. If a
school is accredited with the Provincial Education Department and there are openings,
parents can enroll their children in any school they choose (Hannaway et al., 2019). Before
choosing a pre-school, it is important to consider the long-term and determine which
institution to enroll the child in before deciding on a location.
Conclusion

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South African history can be viewed through a variety of lenses, including both
radicalism and liberalism. However, the history of South Africa may be broken down into
three distinct periods: the era of the apartheid government, the era of peasants, and the
emergence of anti-apartheid social movements. The apartheid era was the most racially
divided period, but racial inequities were prevalent throughout the ages. Whether or whether
the presence of peasants is a result of African ignorance has been contested, and others argue
that Europeans controlled the political and economic power. Proponents of segregation
maintained that race was more than physical color and encompassed mental and spiritual
abilities. Because it serves as a basis for the radical argument, the liberal argument best
describes South African history.

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References
Burger, R., & Christian, C. (2020). Access to health care in post-apartheid South Africa:
availability, affordability, acceptability. Health Economics, Policy and Law, 15(1),
43-55.
Castillo, R. (2020). “Race” and “racism” in contemporary Africa-China relations research:
approaches, controversies and reflections. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, 21(3), 310-336.
Gouveia, S. (2020). An analysis of the efficiency of solutions to urban homelessness in South
Africa.
Hannaway, D., Govender, P., Marais, P., & Meier, C. (2019). Growing early childhood
education teachers in rural areas. Africa Education Review, 16(3), 36-52.
Jacobs, S., De Bosscher, V., Venter, R., & Scheerder, J. (2019). Country profile: sport in
South Africa. International Journal of Sport Policy and Politics, 11(1), 175-191.
Kerr, A., & Wittenberg, M. (2021). Union wage premia and wage inequality in South
Africa. Economic Modelling, 97, 255-271.
Monro, S. (2020). Sexual and gender diversities: implications for LGBTQ studies. Journal of
homosexuality, 67(3), 315-324.
Tenai, N. K., & Mbewu, G. N. (2020). Street homelessness in South Africa: a perspective
from the Methodist Church of Southern Africa. HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological
Studies, 76(1).