Editor's note
More than 25 years since the transition to democracy, South Africa remains one of the most unequal countries in the world and is still battling widespread poverty.
The HSRC’s latest book in its State of the Nation series, Poverty and Inequality: Diagnosis, Prognosis and Responses, covers many of the structural and economic causes but the authors also look at the cultural and psychosocial dimensions of the problem.
Understanding the psychological impact of the country’s history is a complicated field of work that social scientists should pay more attention to, also to inform new policy approaches, said HSRC CEO Prof Crain Soudien at the recent launch of the book in Stellenbosch.
In this edition of the HSRC Review, we feature several articles that relate directly or indirectly to some of the chapters in the book.
With a fresh spate of deadly xenophobic violence sweeping across the country over the last few months, the article on false beliefs that drive xenophobia is particularly relevant. Three out of four South Africans believe immigrants increase crime rates, steal jobs and spread disease, according to an HSRC study by Dr Steven Gordon using data from the 2014 South African Social Attitudes Survey. The government needs to take the role of attitudes seriously and work to dispel disinformation, he says.
In an article focusing on the history of inequality, Prof Colin Bundy provides an overview of the key contributions of the colonial era and highlights how capitalism in 20th-century South Africa accommodated itself to apartheid’s social divide, shaping contemporary inequality.
Summarising one of the more controversial chapters in the book, Prof Ingrid Woolard explores the possible role of wealth taxation in South Africa. Assets such as fixed property lend themselves to easy valuation for wealth tax, it is suggested, but taxing retirement funds should be excluded, as retirement is already underfunded in the country and taxing it may discourage saving.
Another book chapter covers “place-based” development around higher education institutions, specifically how inclusive development in and around campus precincts can reduce inequality by boosting access to higher education and social mobility. The term “place-making” refers to an urban-design approach whereby public spaces are created to promote people’s well-being and sense of belonging.
We feature an article on the HSRC’s review of South Africa’s state housing programmes in five cities. As these suburbs are often built on cheap land on the outskirts of cities, the inhabitants find themselves far from employment opportunities and many do not have the means to develop or maintain their starter houses. The HSRC is also working on a project to help Buffalo City to improve urban spaces in and around its higher education institutions.
Commenting on the sustainable development of South Africa’s fast-expanding cities at the eThekwini Research Symposium 2019, Soudien urged researchers and city officials to include communities in their efforts to find solutions to urban challenges. In many projects, the HSRC is already involving research subjects as active participants in research processes.
An article on the Botshelo Ba Trans study of transgender women shows how these women drove a research sampling process by recruiting participants via their social networks. They helped researchers to access knowledge that normally would have existed outside of academic spaces.
The need to consult people on the ground is also highlighted in an article about the unforeseen challenges Rwanda faced when trying to establish silk farming in a country where caterpillars are not valued as symbols of culture or wealth.
Other articles cover the 9th SA AIDS Conference, informal-sector innovation, language use in classrooms and secondary trauma experienced by researchers. We conclude with a report on the 2019 Annual ASSAf Humanities Lecture where Prof Crain Soudien looked at the history of social-science research as shaped by the University of Pretoria and the HSRC’s predecessor organisations.
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Antoinette