Poverty in South Africa
The chapter examines poverty in the post-apartheid dispensation (in South Africa), taking into account the various studies that have been undertaken regarding poverty since 1994. Because the South African statistical agency—Statistics South Africa—has not collected poverty data since 2015, the chapter uses the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) dataset to estimate poverty for the 2008–17 period while analysing existing data and estimates prior to 2017. An attempt to cover the period after 2017 is done using the NIDS-Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (NIDS-CRAM) which is the mobile survey that was undertaken using the NIDS respondents to gauge the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The analysis focuses on income poverty although other measures such as the multidimensional poverty index are also estimated and analysed. Relative to expenditure, the income approach in measuring poverty provides descriptive information on household welfare and it is useful for policy analysis and programme evaluation as the literature explains. The chapter concludes that although it appears that income poverty has been declining, it remains very high and it is higher for women, for those living in rural areas, and for the African/black population group. In addition, the severity and intensity of poverty has not changed much since 1994.