THE RICH AND THE POOR

Population¹
Total estimate 38.9 million

Monthly Household Income¹

Human Development
If separately accounted for, white and black South Africans end up with radically different positions on the UN Human Development Index, which merges income per capita, life expectancy and literacy to give a sense of a country’s quality of life.³

LANDLOCKED

NANCY DURRELL-McKENNA / PANOS

• The Land Act of 1913 and subsequent racist legislation prevented the vast majority of South Africans from owning or even leasing land anywhere in the country, in urban or rural areas – giving rise to the most unequal system of land distribution in the world.
  
  
• Rural populations have been concentrated in ‘homelands’ and other designated areas, leading to severe overpopulation and soil erosion. Msinga in KwaZulu, for example, contains seven times as many people and animals as can be sustained agriculturally, according to a government commission.
  
  
• The amount of arable land per capita in white rural areas is 12 times greater than in black areas.
  
  
• Only 14 per cent of rural dwellers have access to adequate sanitation.⁵

THE YOUNG LION OF AFRICA

The Government of National Unity that took office in April 1994 does not exactly reflect the election results – the ANC majority has allocated some Cabinet posts to National Party and Inkatha representatives on the basis of backroom deals rather than on strict proportionality.⁷

THE CLASS OF 1990

UNEQUAL HEALTH

Health indicators per 1,000 population, 1989⁵

URBAN

RURAL

SOUTH MEETS SOUTH

THE BIG ISSUE

AVERAGE FLOOR AREA PER PERSON

Whites – 33 square metres each	Blacks – 4 square metres each