30 Years After End of Apartheid – Inequality Persists
By: Kai Ole Vorberg
Apr 26, 2024
April 27 is Freedom Day in South Africa, commemorating the end of the Apartheid regime and the country’s first free and fair elections held on this date in 1994. This week’s graph shows the Equal distribution of resources index for South Africa from 1990 to today, which captures dimensions of both economic and social inequality, and the Liberal Democracy Index as a reference.
The end of Apartheid meant a sudden and significant improvement in civil and political rights for millions of non-white South Africans. In the 30 years since then, however, South Africa has continuously been marked by high levels of inequality and the absence of further substantial improvements in many aspects of public life such as income, wealth, education and health.
Social and economic inequality are not only an issue in and off themselves but can also translate into political inequality by limiting individuals’ fulfillment of formally granted civil and political rights – which is especially relevant with elections for South Africa’s National Assembly scheduled for May 29 of this year.
