The economics of apartheid and racial inequality in South Africa by Prof Tal Edgars.pdf

It should surprise no one that the weight of our history hampers our attempts to create a prosperous society. This has been a constant theme in presidential State of the Nation addresses. Of the 25 such addresses since 1994 (two in election years), 20 have mentioned the word ‘apartheid’ at least once. In 2004 Thabo Mbeki, celebrating 10 years of democracy, said that ‘we have always known that our country's blemishes produced by more than three centuries of colonialism and apartheid could not be removed in one decade’. In 2011 Jacob Zuma said that ‘the legacy of decades of apartheid underdevelopment and colonial oppression cannot be undone in only 17 years’. In more recent addresses, President Zuma has observed that ‘apartheid spatial patterns still persist in our towns and cities’ (2013), and that ‘the culture of violence originated from the apartheid past’ (South Africa Government Online 2014) South Africa Government Online, 2014. State of the Nation Address, 1994–2014. Available online: http://www.gov.za/speeches/son/index.html (accessed 7 September 2019). 

Researchers confirm these views. Poverty levels remain high for black South Africans, their educational attainment and health outcomes continue to lag behind those of white South Africans, and unemployment, which was already increasing during the 1970s and 1980s, shows no signs of declining. The distrust and non-cooperation induced by apartheid persist to this day.