Power inequality – the root of chronic poverty in South Africa

Poverty can be measured in a number of ways and there are different perspectives on its causes. Analysis can help to reveal the causes of poverty and suggest useful responses to it. However, analysis needs to be wide ranging and holistic, considering the local, regional and national context in which poor people live.

The DevelopmentStudies Institute at the London School of Economics, in the UK, carriedout research with poor communities in South Africa’s North West Province,aiming to map the causes of poverty and how people respond to it. Most povertyresearch takes one of two approaches: economic, which considers people’s assetsand the impact of shocks; or the broader livelihoods approach, considering allthe resources households can draw on.

Chronic poverty exists where people face barriers to upwardmobility. These need to be identified and often lie beyond the household.Analysis should therefore look at institutions, from local to global, and howinequalities in power affect poor people’s lives. It should also look at howpoor people respond to barriers and whether their responses create a stable andsecure lifestyle.

In South Africa,many power inequalities remain as a legacy of the apartheid regime. Thisinequality is the root of chronic poverty. Government policy since 1996 hasfocussed on economic growth rather than poverty reduction and the rich/poordivide has grown. Labour has become more casual, making those without regularemployment especially vulnerable.

Research into the causes of poverty in the NorthWest province showed:

• Land redistribution favoured large-scale farmersand has largely ignored the majority landless.
• Local government is responsiblefor coordinating local development, but lacks the capacity and resources to doso.
• Traditional leaders still holdsignificant power, meaning those who are not in their favour tend to have lessaccess to resources they control. Relative newcomers to the area are oftendisadvantaged.
• Most households rely onremittances from migrant labour, but employment is becoming harder to find andless secure.

While a few households haveincreased their income through farming, employment or business, they are thewell-connected and educated minority with access to resources and institutions.For the majority, there is an important difference between those who have aregular income from welfare or employment, and those who rely on casual,intermittent income. As work becomes harder to find, people are moving moreoften, leaving children to be fostered and making planning impossible. Policiesto improve their security and help them out of chronic poverty include:

• Create a basic income grant forthose without sufficient income or other welfare payments, using taxes. Thiswould be likely to find support since unemployment is widely recognised as amajor problem
• Labour reform and job creation isneeded to help people climb out of poverty. Continuation of current policieswill mean economic growth without job creation, having little impact on poorpeople.