South Africa is a reminder that being the continent’s strongest economy does not guarantee universal income improvement for all. Its surging growth left behind large swaths of the population – due in large part to the persistent legacy of apartheid – leaving South Africa with one of the worst income inequalities in the world (a Gini index of about 63).
Two decades after apartheid-era control over the nation’s wealth by white South Africans ended, the country is struggling to achieve more equitable income distribution. In fact, the opposite has happened, with inter-racial inequality worsening since the end of apartheid.
