Search

The article informs on in different ways rich and poor are fending for themselves in South Africa. It mentions that police cannot control the crime and the community is angry, diepsloot has the fourth-highest rate of violent assault of any police precinct in the country, and addiction to nyaope- a mix of cheap heroin, cannabis, antiretroviral drugs and dilutants-is common.

The article highlights the results of economic research on South African inequality from 1993 to 2019 published by academics Aroop Chatterjee, Léo Czajka and Amory Gethin in 2021. There was an increase in the percentage of income of the top 10% of earners while the average income of the poorest declined by more than 30% after inflation. It cites the effect of value-added tax on poor people. Also noted is attribution of the narrowing of racial income gap to the African elite.