Despite gains made in the first 15 years of democracy, 55.5% of South Africans lived below the poverty line as of 2015. Coupled with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, household food insecurity, child hunger, and extraordinarily high youth unemployment levels have eroded the early gains made. The country’s expansive social grants system, insurance schemes and social relief are important mechanisms for ameliorating these challenges. But they need to go further. And the country should tackle the root causes of poverty, which are systemic. This means they cannot be shifted with a single intervention. That’s because cycles of disadvantage accumulate over long periods, generate multiple barriers, and are transferred across generations.
South-africa
Johannesburg
Gauteng
South-african
South-africans
Leila-patel
University-of-johannesburg
Community-of-practice
Department-of-labour
Anxiety-group
World-bank
Social-systems-strengthening
Unrest in KZN, Gauteng cannot only be attributed to poverty and hunger â experts
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Johannesburg - The recent unrest that swept KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng should not be attributed purely to hunger and poverty, as they were a manifestation of a myriad issues that led to the eruption of chaos, some of the countryâs thought leaders have said.
This emerged during a webinar titled the âThe Serious State of the Nation: Where to from here?â during which panellists, including Dr Imtiaz Sooliman of the Gift of the Givers, political commentator Khaya Sithole, Professor Leila Patel and Tracey Henry, chief executive of Tshikululu Social Investments, discussed the long-term consequences of the recent community unrest.
South-africa
Gauteng
Johannesburg
Kwazulu
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Imtiaz-sooliman
Leila-patel
Tracey-henry
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Serious-state
Professor-leila-patel