Abstract
In the last century South Africa has undergone at least three history making phases in her political life. These phases include colonisation (1898 – 1948), apartheid (1948 – 1993) and democracy (1994 – to date). However, the two phases preceding democracy were in large part characterised by political and racial economic domination which gave rise to the struggle for their demise. Central to the political and racial economic domination was state sponsored exclusion which led to the highest levels of inequality and poverty in the country – specifically amongst black Africans. These levels of poverty and inequality homogenised South Africans and helped shaped the content and context of the struggle. This insightful, provocative and nuanced study first traces the genesis and the impact of these two social evils – inequality and poverty; in the South African setting and later attempts to answer the question whether did the dawn of democracy help to accelerate or hamper the fight against these two social evils.
M.A. (Politics)