quote:But the point I am making is that being black in the system does NOT mean CHANGE for black people.
Jeeze Doug, I can't help but get the impression that you are simply skimming through my words and putting your own spin to it as I've implied nothing remotely similar to what you're arguing against. You can't help but see this through a racial lens, even after my challenge to you to present direct criticism of the man's character and credentials. It seems that you have no solutions of your own and push a view that is ancient. A separatist ideology.
Black + power = bad
White + power = bad
America = bad
I don't understand your way of thinking and since you haven't addressed my actual position, I'm not sure what else to say.
Talk about skimming words! It is simply not about black or white. However, blacks in power are more able to draw sympathy by being symbols of progress while at the same token destroying and implementing more of the same policies that other politicians would never dare push, especially against blacks. Be fearful of trojans bearing gifts.
Black/white/brown/orange + power + support for blacks and end of global capitalist industrialist imperialism = good
Black/white/brown/orange + power + support for global capitalist industrialist imperialism = bad
The only thing that counts is action. Talk is meaningless salesmanship and appeal to emotionalism. Blacks need action on the issues adressing black folks, not happy feely talk that only prolongs the status quo while blacks are left feeling happy about being left of the actual game. That is how you get the current state of affairs in much of Africa, with South Africa as a prime example. If the system knows that you are more concerned with emotional fluff then substantive fact, they will play you every time. Bottom line, blacks are too busy trying to believe in a system that has been walking on their backs for over four hundred years and making justifications and excuses as to why they get back up and keep believing, only to be knocked back down again. The only ones singing that happy song of freedom are those who don't even know that they are still slaves.
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the difference is that in south africa much has change and more is changing.many blacks say things are happening in south africa and the only thing some are not happy about is that the change is not as fast enough.change is happening in much of africa as well.so i disagree with the african stuff as awhole with doug and he knows it but i agree with him alot with the american stuff.
a friend of mines talked about a person from ghana who said at least when we got our freedom we have our future in our hands and a country to go with it.blacks americans as awhole are stuck with america and never got their true freedom.having a state of your own despite the problems is the only true way to go or going back to africa.but most blacks in america do not seek either and will be always slaves and a footnote to another groups plans.example jazz is considered american music and not just black american music anymore and whites have or trying to claim it.it goes on and on and on.
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But there does seem to be a world-wide problem with African peoples--despite bits of progress here and there.
Despite "independence" it just doesn't seem right that in most of West Africa the banking, retail and other industries cater mainly to Lebanese, Indians and Europeans. Just a few metres from where I am there's a main road with lots of vehicular traffic. On both sides of the road are retail merchant stores, restaurants, etc.--all owned and run by Indians and Lebanese. The only mitigating fact is that the buildings are owned by locals who lease them out.
It may be a world-wide network problem because the Lebanese, Indians and others who run retail businesses all seem to be part of a larger network of contacts based in Europe and Asia that facilitate the flow of import goods, etc. The locals, of course, are in the "safe" areas such as the professions and office work in government or banks, etc. But few have the appetite or the capital to risk it or increase it in the retail business.There are small local shops here and there but that's about it. I suspect the same principle is at work all over Africa and in other areas where blacks live.
It looks like a 50-50 thing with historical roots because during the colonial era the European colonialists actively hindered blacks from going into business--preferring to import Lebanese and Indians to proliferate in the retail and manufacturing areas.
And that's why turtles have hard shells on their backs. You gotta go with the flow or drown--meaning that obstacles are meant to be overcome.
Which brings me to the issue of blacks as minorities in white societies. They will always be outsiders as the Jews were in Europe for centuries and centuries. So a plausible solution would require falling back totally on one's resources instead of expecting governments and political parties to change things.
That requires mental re-programming but it's not impossible to achieve goals. I say this because I remember reading about a black woman in the U.S. who had spent her whole life as an "uneducated" washer-woman. When she finally quit she had amassed a larg sum of several hundred thousand dollars.
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But there does seem to be a world-wide problem with African peoples--despite bits of progress here and there.
Despite "independence" it just doesn't seem right that in most of West Africa the banking, retail and other industries cater mainly to Lebanese, Indians and Europeans. Just a few metres from where I am there's a main road with lots of vehicular traffic. On both sides of the road are retail merchant stores, restaurants, etc.--all owned and run by Indians and Lebanese. The only mitigating fact is that the buildings are owned by locals who lease them out.
It may be a world-wide network problem because the Lebanese, Indians and others who run retail businesses all seem to be part of a larger network of contacts based in Europe and Asia that facilitate the flow of import goods, etc. The locals, of course, are in the "safe" areas such as the professions and office work in government or banks, etc. But few have the appetite or the capital to risk it or increase it in the retail business.There are small local shops here and there but that's about it. I suspect the same principle is at work all over Africa and in other areas where blacks live.
It looks like a 50-50 thing with historical roots because during the colonial era the European colonialists actively hindered blacks from going into business--preferring to import Lebanese and Indians to proliferate in the retail and manufacturing areas.
And that's why turtles have hard shells on their backs. You gotta go with the flow or drown--meaning that obstacles are meant to be overcome.
Which brings me to the issue of blacks as minorities in white societies. They will always be outsiders as the Jews were in Europe for centuries and centuries. So a plausible solution would require falling back totally on one's resources instead of expecting governments and political parties to change things.
That requires mental re-programming but it's not impossible to achieve goals. I say this because I remember reading about a black woman in the U.S. who had spent her whole life as an "uneducated" washer-woman. When she finally quit she had amassed a larg sum of several hundred thousand dollars.
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quote:Originally posted by kenndo: It depends where you are at in west africa.i know in many parts of africa their are black owned businesses and in west africa too.of course in certain west african countries black owned businesses are better off than others more so if there are no whites and other groups around.i remember someone said to me awhile ago,you could go around many places in west africa and not see a white face or any other face.SO IT CLEAR IN THOSE PLACES BLACKS ARE THE ONLY ONES THERE WITH BUSINESS.THEY HAVE TO, TO SURVIVE AND THAT'S A GOOD THING AND i just read that business in africa are growing and they are african owned and largely african owned.i was going to post that info but i have not read everything yet so you just have to take my word for it. black owned businesses are growing t in america but they tend to be out for self so i am not going to say nothing is happening in boths places.i am not down with that type of thinking.if balcks want to at least have some breathing roon in america they should at least be forself first.every other group in america think about themselves first.
I agree with you on this however obstacles could be overcome and in areas like you live that could change because the power is really there to do it.
this point you are right,in the u.s. blacks will always be outsiders.every other group come there to make money not to be really americans.blacks in america think they are truly american but they are nothing but second class citizens and always will be along as the current system exist and it will not matter if other folks of color come in because latinos will still hold up the system.
I rememebr they took a poll a few months ago and they found out that latinos HAD just as much or more sterotypes of blacks than whites.
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to change the subject and to talk about america here,bringing other racial groups to make the white population smaller % wise will not help blacks in america.
Latino Immigrants Come to the U.S. with Negative Stereotypes of Black Americans, New Study Shows How Latino immigrants relate to blacks and whites -- and how those groups relate to Latinos -- has implications for the social and political dynamic of the South, says political scientist Paula McClain Monday, July 10, 2006 Note to Editors:
Durham, N.C. -- Latinos bring negative stereotypes about black Americans to the U.S. when they immigrate and identify more with whites than blacks, according to a study of the changing political dynamics in the South. The research also found that living in the same neighborhoods with black Americans seems to reinforce, rather than reduce, the negative stereotypes Latino immigrants have of blacks, said Paula D. McClain, a Duke University political science professor who is the study’s lead author. McClain said the findings are significant because the South has the largest population of blacks in the U.S. and has been defined more than other regions along a black-white divide. How Latino immigrants relate to blacks and whites -- and how those groups relate to Latinos -- has implications for the social and political dynamic of the region, she said. “Given the increasing number of Latino immigrants in the South and the possibility that over time their numbers might rival or even surpass black Americans in the region, if large portions of Latino immigrants maintain negative attitudes of black Americans, where will this leave blacks?” the researchers wrote. “Will blacks find that they must not only make demands on whites for continued progress, but also mount a fight on another front against Latinos?” In an interview, McClain added: “We’re actually pretty depressed about a lot of our findings.” The findings will be published in the August issue of the Journal of Politics, which is already available online (http://journalofpolitics.org/art68_3.html#a7 <http://journalofpolitics.org/art68_3.html>). The study was funded by the Ford Foundation. The study’s co-authors are Niambi M. Carter, Victoria M. DeFrancesco Soto and Monique L. Lyle of Duke; Jeffrey D. Grynaviski of the University of Chicago; Shayla C. Nunnally of the University of Connecticut; Thomas J. Scotto of West Virginia University; J. Alan Kendrick of St. Augustine's College; and Gerald F. Lackey and Kendra Davenport Cotton of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The findings are based on a 2003 survey, conducted in English and Spanish, of 500 Durham, N.C., residents, including 160 whites, 151 blacks and 167 Latinos. Durham was chosen for the pilot study because North Carolina has the fastest-growing Latino population in the country, and because Durham’s black population includes residents at all socioeconomic levels. The goal was to understand how Latino immigration -- a population largely new to the South in the past decade -- affects group dynamics in the South, which has historically been defined by the relationship between blacks and whites. The survey focused on a range of social and political activities and attitudes, including stereotypes each group holds about the other two. Researchers found that 58.9 percent of Latino immigrants -- most Latinos in Durham are from Mexico -- feel that few or almost no blacks are hard-working. About one-third, or 32.5 percent, of Latino immigrants reported they feel few or almost no blacks are easy to get along with. More than half of the Latino immigrants, or 56.9 percent, feel that few or almost no blacks could be trusted. Within the Latino immigrant population, researchers found, more-educated Latinos have significantly fewer negative stereotypes, and men have significantly more negative stereotypes. “One might think that the cause of the Latinos’ negative opinions about blacks is the transmission of prejudice from Southern whites, but our data do not support this notion,” the researchers wrote. White residents in Durham actually have a more positive view of blacks, leading researchers to conclude that Latinos’ negative views were not adopted from whites. In the survey, only 9.3 percent of whites surveyed indicate that few blacks are hard-working; only 8.4 percent believe few or almost no blacks are easy to get along with; and only 9.6 percent feel that few or almost no blacks can be trusted. The researchers also noted that if whites were the primary influence on Latinos’ stereotypes, Latinos would become more prejudiced the longer they are in the U.S.; the findings do not support that notion. The researchers also investigated whether Latinos might be reciprocating the prejudice they sense from blacks; again, the survey did not support this theory. The survey showed that blacks view Latinos much more favorably than Latinos view blacks. About 72 percent of blacks feel most or almost all Latinos are hard-working, and 42.8 percent say most or almost all Latinos are easy to get along with. About one-third, or 32.6 percent, of blacks feel few or no Latinos could be trusted. WHAT CAUSES THE LATINOS' STEREOTYPES? The researchers concluded that Latino immigrants may bring their feelings about the racial hierarchies in their own countries with them to the U.S. The researchers noted that previous studies on race and Latin America, especially Mexico, identify blacks as “representing the bottom rungs of society.” The study also looked at the racial group with whom Latino immigrants most identify. More than 78 percent feel they have the most in common with whites, and 52.8 percent said they have the least in common with blacks. Whites do not feel the same connection to Latino immigrants. Nearly half of whites -- 47.5 percent -- reported they have the least in common with Latinos. Just 22.2 percent of whites see themselves as having the most in common with Latinos, while 45.9 percent say they have the most in common with blacks. Among blacks, respondents are split -- 49.6 percent say blacks have the most in common with Latinos, while 45.5 percent say they have the most in common with whites. The study did find that several factors do reduce stereotypes. For instance, when Latinos have a sense of “linked fate” with other Latinos -- or the sense that what happens to other Latinos affects them -- they tend to have fewer stereotypes against blacks. “The finding that these negative attitudes are modulated by a sense of linked fate suggests possibilities for the formation of connections to black Americans in the absence of the presence of an extant American Latino community,” the researchers wrote. The researchers also noted that education and some types of social interaction with blacks can reduce negative stereotypes among Latinos. However, one type of social interaction -- living in the same neighborhood – “pushes them farther away from blacks and closer to whites,” the study said. “These new Latino immigrants may behave in ways similar to the Chinese in Mississippi in the mid-19th century, and the Cubans in Miami in the mid-20th century -- identification with whites, distancing themselves from blacks, and feeling no responsibility to rectify the continuing inequalities of black Americans,” the researchers wrote. EXPANDING THE STUDY McClain noted that more research needs to be done to fully understand these findings. Her research team plans to expand the study to determine whether the Durham findings mirror Latino-black relations in other Southern cities. In addition to re-surveying Durham residents, her group plans to study Memphis, Tenn.; Greensboro, N.C.; Greenville, S.C.; and Dalton, Ga. She recently received a grant from the Russell Sage Foundation to survey three of the cities and will seek funding from other sources to fund the remaining two cities. While the topic requires additional research, McClain said the initial findings indicate that community leaders in cities with burgeoning Latino immigrant populations must begin thinking through how the different groups get along. “Black and Latino leaders need to recognize that there is a tremendous potential for conflict and that Latino immigrant attitudes toward black Americans may be a part of that,” she said. “There is also a potential for a backlash against Latino immigrants from black Americans.” Kelly Gilmer
quote:Originally posted by lamin: But there does seem to be a world-wide problem with African peoples--despite bits of progress here and there.
Despite "independence" it just doesn't seem right that in most of West Africa the banking, retail and other industries cater mainly to Lebanese, Indians and Europeans. Just a few metres from where I am there's a main road with lots of vehicular traffic. On both sides of the road are retail merchant stores, restaurants, etc.--all owned and run by Indians and Lebanese. The only mitigating fact is that the buildings are owned by locals who lease them out.
It may be a world-wide network problem because the Lebanese, Indians and others who run retail businesses all seem to be part of a larger network of contacts based in Europe and Asia that facilitate the flow of import goods, etc. The locals, of course, are in the "safe" areas such as the professions and office work in government or banks, etc. But few have the appetite or the capital to risk it or increase it in the retail business.There are small local shops here and there but that's about it. I suspect the same principle is at work all over Africa and in other areas where blacks live.
It looks like a 50-50 thing with historical roots because during the colonial era the European colonialists actively hindered blacks from going into business--preferring to import Lebanese and Indians to proliferate in the retail and manufacturing areas.
And that's why turtles have hard shells on their backs. You gotta go with the flow or drown--meaning that obstacles are meant to be overcome.
Which brings me to the issue of blacks as minorities in white societies. They will always be outsiders as the Jews were in Europe for centuries and centuries. So a plausible solution would require falling back totally on one's resources instead of expecting governments and political parties to change things.
That requires mental re-programming but it's not impossible to achieve goals. I say this because I remember reading about a black woman in the U.S. who had spent her whole life as an "uneducated" washer-woman. When she finally quit she had amassed a larg sum of several hundred thousand dollars.
You are absolutely correct. The problem here is that whites NEVER MEANT for blacks to be in control of their economies, EVEN IN AFRICA. Lebanese, Indians and Europeans own MOST of the major industries and retail outlets in Africa. South African whites own MOST of the land in South Africa as well almost ALL of the major industries and mines. Whites and other foreigners in Kenya control MOST of the major agricultural companies and industries as well. The same is true throughout most of Africa. The vast majority of the economic power and wealth in Africa is STILL concentrated in the hands of whites and other foreigners.
The ultimate problem in and outside Africa is WHO defines progress. If progress is simply just the ability to walk down the street without being called nigger and having your ass beat to death, then sure, blacks in America and Africa have made progress. In reality, most blacks in America and Africa have been told that progress is being able to have a job working for whites and be accepted by whites without getting their brains beat out. And this sort of progress leaves whites in their privileged positions and never challenges it, which is why such an approach was pushed so strongly in the first place. This is the approach of the Mandelas and the ANCs of the world, which are in reality puppets of the whites to begin with. Even Martin Luther King and the NAACP were heavily influenced by whites in this same way.
But that isn't really progress it is someone else brainwashing you into believing you have progress. That is why blacks in America are WORSE off today, but THINK that they are making progress.
Blacks need to start defining progress for themselves. They should start defining progress in terms of OWNING and CONTROLLING greater and greater areas of their own economies. They should NOT define progress as simply WORKING for someone else, as opposed to being able to generate WEALTH for themselves. Working does not generate wealth. Wealth comes from ownership and control of capital and being able to use it to generate wealth, through control of physical assets and business activity. Africans especially need to adopt a definition of progress which puts more and MORE of the African economy in the control of BLACKS, not simply progress defined by FOREIGNERS continuing to control the greatest share of African resources and wealth and Africans being happy with chump change that they get as worker slaves at the bottom of the ladder.
NOBODY else operates from the same definition of progress as blacks, because everyone ELSE realizes that such a definition of progress is B.S. When whites define progress it is certainly not in terms of simply being workers. It is about OWNING AND CONTROLLING businesses, resources and ever larger forms of capital generation in terms of banks, businesses, resource operations and factories. Progress is about creating and controlling wealth, which creates jobs, not just having a job. When foreigners go to Africa, their whole aim is to CREATE WEALTH for themselves, from AFRICAN resources and AFRICAN labor. The Chinese think this way, the Lebanese think this way, the Europeans think this way and everyone else, EXCEPT the Africans. And guess what, as a result of these definitions of progress, the outcomes match the definitions. Indians, Chinese, Lebanese and other foreigners are GENERATING WEALTH for themselves, while Africans simply get jobs and DON'T really acquire any WEALTH. Africans MUST define progress in terms of generating WEALTH and controlling CAPITAL, INDUSTRY and their ECONOMIES and stop desiring to be happy slaves, working for everyone else's benefit.
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I see your points. Not to deny that there is some progress--but with the exception of Guinea(Conakry) and to some extent Nigeria,where there are relatively influential behind the scene Lebanese and Indian communities, most of West Africa's retail business is Lebanese and Indian. This is not the case in Guinea because Sekou Toure locked off the country to outsiders for a long time. The Chinese are now adding themselves to this equation.
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I would say indians and whites and lebanese owned all the major industries in africa. i think that will be going to far and i posted many times that this is not true and new WEALTH is growing in africa and being own by blacks.it is in america blacks are having more of the problems .the problem is more in south africa compared to many other african countries but change is happpening there too and black own business are growing it will take time to further it but thing are happening.the way they are changing south africa is the smarter way and liKE i said it depends which africa country you are talking about.THE MAJOR STATE INDUSTRIES A FOR AN EXAMPLE IN SOUTH AFRICA IS OWN BY THE STATE,NOT WHITES.MOST OF THE INDUSTRIES IN NIGERIA IS OWN BY BLACKS.THERE IS A PLAN FOR LAND AND THE RESOURCES TO CHANGE MORE SO IN THE COMING YEARS in south africa,IF NOT JUST LOOK NORTH TO THEIR SISTER STATE.
ZIMBABWE CONTROLS THIER OWN RESOURCES NOW. SO YOU CAN'T SAY EVERY AFRICAN COUNTRY.
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quote:Originally posted by lamin: I see your points. Not to deny that there is some progress--but with the exception of Guinea(Conakry) and to some extent Nigeria,where there are relatively influential behind the scene Lebanese and Indian communities, most of West Africa's retail business is Lebanese and Indian. This is not the case in Guinea because Sekou Toure locked off the country to outsiders for a long time. The Chinese are now adding themselves to this equation.
RETAIL,OKAY. I GET THAT AND THAT COULD CHANGE BUT AT LEAST you are abit more carful about blanket statements or at least listen to what others say when the facts come in or change or gets updated.you do not sound like you are stuck in a way of thinking.you do not see doom and gloom all over the place like some folks do.you mention guinea,good.at least that is another example that folks need to know.
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HOMEOUR CITYOUR NATIONOUR WORLDOUR FOCUSOUR VIEWSOUR CULTUREOUR SPORTSOUR ENTERTAINMENTCLASSIFIEDSPHOTO GALLERYARCHIVESSEARCH: Youth advocates: CPS students speak on school, personal safety LSC election deadline now March 24 Barack Obama gives speech on race in U.S. Youth advocates: CPS students speak on school, personal safety LSC election deadline now March 24 Barack Obama gives speech on race in U.S.
South Africa ripe for Black business growth potential by Ayana Haarun
In the mist of endless sunshine, fresh produce, and glowing brown faces, I spent much of my four-month stay in sub-Saharan Africa exploring the many opportunities I saw to make money.
Contrary to the perception of Africa as a perpetual mess–too poor, politically corrupt, and AIDS-ridden to offer economic opportunity– many African nations are experiencing the best economic growth in years.
According to a 2007 report by the U.S. Department of Commerce, sub-Saharan African countries grew by 5.3 percent, a number higher than the world average. “At this rate, Africa's poverty rate could halve by 2015.
Take India and China out of the equation, and sub-Saharan Africa is actually growing faster than Asia,” SeekingAlpha.com, a provider of stock market opinion and analysis, reported.
While the West virtually ignores Africa–currently, only 1 percent of the private capital in the world is invested in sub-Saharan Africa–China has aggressively increased its presence on the continent. In 2006, trade between China and Africa soared by 40 percent to a record $55.5 billion, according to SeekingAlpha.com.
In her cozy home in Johannesburg, South Africa, I spoke with Monica Faith Stewart, a Chicago native and former Illinois state senator who is now the Managing Director of the State of Illinois Africa Office of Trade and Investment. Stewart first came to South Africa in 1994 as an international observer for the country's first democratic election.
Nelson Mandela was among the candidates for South Africa’s presidency. “One of the most important experiences I had was being involved in Harold Washington's election. There were lots of parallels with Nelson Mandela. When I came [to South Africa] it was the same 'keep hope alive' kind of sensation. It was overwhelming to look as far as I could see–Black people lined up to vote.
The chance to be in a real transition, I couldn't pass up,” said Stewart. After Mandela's election Stewart returned to South Africa. She kept her foot in both worlds, lobbying South Africa's Parliament on behalf of Chicago-based clients. In 2000, Stewart became Managing Director of the Africa branch of the revitalized Illinois Office of Trade and Investment. Originally established in 1965, the OTI helps Illinois companies identify new markets and locate distribution channels for their products and services abroad.
Today, the OTI has 10 foreign offices across the globe. Multi-national companies based in Ilinois such as Abbott Labs, John Deere, Caterpillar, Motorola, and Boeing, help make the state the sixth largest exporting one in the nation. In 2007, the OTI reported Illinois exports to Africa totaled $846 million, an increase of 46 percent from 2005.
Top sectors include machinery, chemicals, computer and electronic products, transportation equipment, fabricated metal components, and food and kindred products, the agency reported. “For most American companies, South Africa represents the gateway to Africa. It offers comfortable and familiar infrastructure and banking systems,” Stewart said. South Africa now accounts for 67 percent of economic activity between Illinois and Africa, according to OTI.
Although American corporate presence is slowly increasing in Africa, Black-owned companies don't have strong representation. For Stewart, change begins with a visit. “People often can't believe what they're seeing,” Stewart said of the frequent visitors she receives. “Americans are notoriously ignorant about Africa.
But like Africa suffers terribly from negative perception, we suffer from negative self-conception tied to our ideas about where we come from.” Stewart exclaims, “If African Americans were a separate nation we'd have nearly the same purchasing power as the entire African continent. It is important for the sons and daughters of Africa to come home and make a contribution. African Americans have a lot to offer.
And, there is satisfaction in demonstrating a connection between African Americans and Africa.” For companies interested in doing business in Africa, Stewart suggests first researching the markets. “Get on the Internet and learn about this market. There are opportunities and you get a higher return.” Stewart’s assertion is supported by MoneyWeek.com.
The Web site indicates that Africa currently offers the highest returns on foreign and direct investment of any region in the world. And African companies are some of the most profitable and fastest growing, according to the site. For small and medium sized businesses, Stewart recommends finding a local partner. “If business people think they have a marketable product or service, find a joint venture partner in the new market.
There is a wealth of opportunities for Black contractors selling building materials, engineers, and in communications technology.” Partnering with a Black Economic Empowerment company may enhance chances of obtaining large contracts and finance. According to BEE regulations, businesses must have a set percentage of previously disadvantaged people (Black South Africans) in management, shareholding and partnerships.
Much like affirmative action in the United States, South Africa organizations must comply with BEE regulations to qualify for several economic incentives or obtain government contracts. In addition, South Africa offers attractive incentives geared toward foreigners who want to invest or open a business in South Africa.
The African nation’s Department of Trade and Industry offers non-tax grants in the form of below average interest rates on business loans, utility allowances for larger companies, tax deductions, and allowances for initial setup or relocation costs. Stewart also suggested looking to South Africa for career opportunities. “There is a real need for technical skills-in agriculture, engineering, industrial and environmental fields,” she said.
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post by Goodwill 276 hours 30 minutes ago
My NAME IS Goodwill a south African exhange student in the US Studying computer science i'm pleased to have read about the points made by Ayana Haarun with regard to South Africa ripe for Black bussiness growth potential it is in the truest sense how in the past decade as Black South Africans and country at large we implimented drastic measures to make a mark in the world showing our readiness and welcome back American investors and the others from around the Globe which has been a pleasure for us as a rebuilding nation to take part in the world economic status I stand as a symbol of that today being privilledged to study in the US empowered by my country and America for tomorow that i participate in the economy of the whole world however it is my plea to interact with American enterprenous who can help advice me in any regard since i will be goin back home to work even hard the stage is opened for me all i need is solidify my plans and work even extra hard I thanks you and anyone willing just to share information can reach to me at --
one correction above if you go by gnp ppp the gnp will be higherhttp://www.chicagodefender.com/view.php?I=509
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I forgot to say,black south africans control a large part of the economy,and some of the resources but mostly not all directly
anyway when i read this below it sound like good news too me.over 1 million whites left south africa,so something is overall going right.
Entire afrika.no Index on Africa News Update
Fellesrådet The Index on Africa Africa News Update English You are here: News Update Home : Archive : 2004 : July
South Africa: Poor whites are strangers in a new land Lisa has her monthly period, which means she can’t work. Her cellphone screen flashes incessantly with the names of her regulars, but she only answers her boyfriend’s calls. Her boyfriend, Pieter, knows her line of work, but condones it because he is unemployed. In the growing poor white community, sex is a key source of income.
By Mail and Guardian (South Africa), by Vicki Robinson | 07.08.2004
Seventy-five years after the armblank (poor white) crisis of the 1930s, the phenomenon is resurfacing. White unemployment has nearly doubled since 1995, according to the Institute for Security Studies.
Today 430 000 whites, of a total white population of 4,5-million,(really 4.3 million) are “too poor to live in traditional white areas” and 90 000 “are in a survival struggle”, says Lawrence Schlemmer, director of the Helen Suzman Foundation. Of these, 305 000 are Afrikaans-speaking and 215 000 speak English.
Since 1998 these figures have increased year-on-year by 15%. According to a survey by the South African Institute of Race Relations, white unemployment increased by 74,4%, using the expanded definition, between 1998 and 2002, compared with the national average over the same period of 39,8%. However, the growth of white unemployment is off a much lower population base than black unemployment.
A key goal of the National Party in the heyday of apartheid was to uplift poor whites by using the state and semi-state sectors to provide them with jobs and housing, reserving certain jobs for whites, favouring their trade unions and shoring up the farming sector.
But for the first time in the mid-1970s, there were more white-collar than blue-collar Afrikaners, and the policies of the NP shifted accordingly. Poor whites were increasingly abandoned by the state.
The 1994 election and the advent of majority rule has accelerated the downward precipitation of whites without capital or marketable skills. In desperation, they are clinging to what they know: religion, xenophobia and racism. Many still believe their skin colour puts them above menial labour, and prostitution has become a common way of earning a living.
“I do everything except Greek style and blacks,” says Lisa, who lives in suburban Vanderbijlpark, a microcosm of white economic distress. “I work nine till five because in the evenings I like to spend quality time with my kids.” She only takes bookings from businessmen and earns up to R15 000 a month.
Her office — a cerise room with a double bed, a crimson lounge suite, and a table carrying with a bottle of Johnson’s baby oil, government condoms and Courtleigh cigarettes — is in her backyard next to her swimming pool. Her children are aware of her business. They say they accept it because it gives them a house of their own and a higher standard of living.
Another Vanderbijlpark prostitute, Nikkie, has size 44E breasts with a red rose tattooed next to her right nipple, making her black string top look like an overstuffed couch. Her husband is unemployed, and she has two small children.
Often Nikkie goes away for weekends with groups of farmers on hunting trips to Kuruman in the Northern Cape. On these occasions she earns R4 500 in addition to her average R2 000 weekly earnings.
“I only do men over 30 because I shake the **** out of anyone younger,” she jokes. “My husband doesn’t mind — it actually excites him. Often we have a passionate session after a full night’s work. My only three rules are whites only, no anal sex and cleanliness — you can’t do a client smelling like a three-day-old snoek.”
Lisa and Nikkie both insist survival has forced them into the “game”.
Poor whites typically compensate for their low socio-economic status with aggressive racism. In an era when many black people are upwardly mobile, it serves to bolster their self-pride.
Estelle Claasens lives in a former Iscor home, now owned by the church, with six other families — each one crammed into a bedroom. Last month she walked out of her job — washing dishes at the café in Vanderbijlpark — because she refused to wear the required green overall. “I was happy to wash the floors and the toilets and the dishes but when they tried to dress me like a kaffir, that’s when I said thanks, but no thanks,” she says.
Sucking hard on her cigarette and blowing a yellow smoke-stream from the corner of her mouth, she is a bottle-blond caricature of Patricia Lewis.
“The government, they must build us those — what youmacall it?” she says twisting her plump hand in the air for inspiration. “Those RDP houses. But ours must be here and the kaffirs must be over there. We don’t have to live by each other because poor blacks will always be much lower-class than poor whites.”
White families live in the garages of many Vanderbijlpark homes — a lucrative business for the home-owners, who charge between R500 and R700 a month in rent.
White poverty first came to prominence in South Africa during the 1920s when president Jan Smuts singled it out as the greatest threat to Afrikaner survival. Initially a rural problem of subsistence farmers and bywoners (share-croppers), it developed into an urban phenomenon during the Great Depression. The official tally of poor whites increased from 10 000 in 1890 to 535 000 in 1936. They lived on the periphery of white society; many were barely literate and almost unemployable.
In 1948 DF Malan romped to power on the slogan “The white man must remain master”, and set about creating the apartheid system that would allow whites “to remain white and live white”. An economic safety net was constructed by the apartheid state through the colour bar, the distinction between “civilised” and “uncivilised” labour, protectionist policies for companies that employed whites, and minimum wage laws that insulated semi-skilled whites from competition by unskilled blacks.
The Apprenticeship Act of 1922, a mainstay of apartheid labour legislation, is ironically the downfall of many poor whites today. It stipulated a standard six pass as a minimum qualification for apprenticeship in 41 trades, including the giant iron and steel industries.
A privatised Iscor — whose Vanderbijlpark plant has shed 16 000 jobs in the past 10 years — is the source of most white poverty in the Vaal Triangle. Poor whites were Iscor “appies”, like their fathers before them, at a time when state-owned businesses provided sheltered employment for whites and their children. Today, their lack of formal education renders them redundant.
Racial transformation over the past decade, including economic redress in the form of affirmative action and black economic empowerment, has deepened their despair. “Whites have been set quite a severe test by transformation policies,” says Schlemmer. “Whenever a population is put to this kind of test it produces heightened performance among those who are confident and well-educated, while some drop out at the bottom. In other words, it increases inequality. It is plunging the minority at the bottom into deeper poverty and sharpening the wits at the top end.”
In 1994 44% of civil service posts were held by whites; by last year this had dropped to about 20%. In 1996 almost 50% of technicians and artisans were white; today the figure has fallen to about 20%.
With the sense of abandonment goes fatalistic inertia and heightened religionism. The houses of poor whites are full of Durer’s praying hands and other religious paraphernalia; all insist God has sent them poverty as a test. Rather than job-hunt, many sit in their front yards — uncovered patches of ground littered with cigarette butts, dogs and chickens — waiting for divine dispensation.
In the younger generation, rebellion typically takes the form of dabbling in Satanism.
Poor whites are detached and alienated from post-1994 politics, although some express dismay at former president FW de Klerk’s failure to drive a harder bargain for whites.
Bertus Bornman, a garage-dweller who earns R5 200 as a boiler operator at Iscor, complained that President Thabo Mbeki “should stop looking outside the country, and look inward” at its problems.
Most refuse to take “charity” from the current government. They are aware of assistance in the form of child and disability grants, but have not bothered to find out how to access them. “We’ll never beg,” said Nikkie.
Despite the professions of sturdy self-reliance, there is heavy dependency on private charity from middle-class Afrikaners, church organisations and Child Welfare. The Vanderbijlpark Christian Centre, a local church, has three homes for destitutes in Vanderbijlpark, while the NG Kerk has arranged support groups for alcoholics and the mentally ill.
Alcohol abuse and domestic violence are rife, and suicides or attempted suicides apparently common among the youth. Sarie de Preez (37) lives with her mother, who now provides for her, after her drunken husband, Bennie, nearly beat her to death with a plank in front of her five-year-old twin boys.
Felicity Curry (17) says she tried to kill herself last year by swallowing 28 pills after being raped by the leader of the Satanist cult. She lost her virginity at 13, after a lodger in her mother’s house gave her a choice: sex, or he would reveal her smoking habit to her parents. Her ankle is greyed with a slapdash tattoo that reads “Sex Cat”; the words “Bad Bitch” encircle her navel. She claims to have weaned herself from addiction to dagga and ecstasy.
There is an eeriness about Vanderbijlpark at weekends. The enduring image is of dilapidated Iscor homes, grimy children spinning tops on dusty lawns, and their dull, bleary-eyed fathers leaning on crooked gates.
“Die witmense kry swaar en die kaffirs kry lekker [Whites are suffering and kaffirs are doing great],” complains Bornman. He is a stranger in a strange, new South Africa, hopelessly alienated from its politics, washed up by change, imprisoned by a racial pride that harks back to a vanished era. He is one of apartheid’s hidden victims.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- some updated info since 2004-
SA: 1-million poor Afrikaners n 2007 Date Posted: Thursday 17-Jan-2008
Unemployment among Afrikaners has increased by 200% since 1994 -- and between 10% to 12% of the Afrikaners were by 2001 on incomes well below the breadline, with some 1-million Afrikaners totally destitute by 2007.
White poverty is often 'hidden' because it manifests differently than the highly-visible poverty in black squatter camps. Poor-whites are deeply ashamed of their poverty and hide behind fences, in backyard shanties, garages, caravan parks and other meagre housing.
This was said by Flip Buys of the trade union Solidarity. "There's a much greater stigma attached to poverty among whites and they hide it". STATISTICS-SA noted in 2002 that unemployment among 'whites' had increased dramatically with 197% between 1995 to 2001, leaving hundreds of thousands of Afrikaners permanently unemployable and destitute.
“Because of the high visibility of black poverty, the poor white problem does not draw much attention,' says Solidarity's spokesman. "There still remains these strong perceptions that all whites are wealthy and black people are poor. "Afrikaner poverty is much more difficult to see. Instead of living in large squatter camps, they hide their 'newly poor' status.' It is socially-unacceptable for Afrikaners to be poor and unemployed: "People will write that they are 'marketers' or 'consultants' on their census-forms rather than admitting that they are unemployed. “previously, Afrikaners could still access bursaries, education and advancement. "Now with black-economic-empowerment laws, these rights have been barred to Afrikaner whites. "They now find themselves in a dilemma in which their career-advancement stagnates and their children can't find bursaries and jobs because they are white.' Solidarity has set up a Bursary programme to try and alleviate this problem for Afrikaner youths.
here are comments from the white racist website stormfront
TIA This is africa The whites need to all move into one area and form a majority of their own. but i cant see it how they will do it. They look like they are doomed, its only going to get worse.
I saw that doco on poor whites in South Africa and it made me glad I chose Australia after Rhodesia went black. I had family in Australia but not close family South Africa was an option but I could see they were going too and I was pissed at them for forcing us to black majority rule. They sold us out to gain a few more years. Besides there was no black problem in Australia they are the minority, thank god. They ( White South Africans) should have prepared themselves better, its interesting how the Afrikaaners thought themselves superior to those of English background. Now they are suffering the most and the better educated as a rule English background South Africans are still doing okay for the time being. The kaffirs want the whole shooting match. No balls Mugabe showed how cunning they are for a few years he left the whites alone, thats one bastard I will never understand why we never assasinated him back in 79. Turns out he had whites helping him, bloody traitors wonder where they finished up. Oh well we cant win everywhere but would be good if we won somewhere. Rhodesianbigot ------------------------------------------
here are some other comments from another website talking about the video-
What goes around, comes around and the interviewer have the nerve to be asking only questions about whites, glad she got put in she place at the end. Whites will never rule South Africa again. The nerve to think they will get the same treatment as before, good for dem 350 Years of abuse now all of a sudden they don't like it when they are wearing the same shoe from the past. It serve dem right so poor whites, is them put themselves into that kind of situation they are today so they should blame dem selves and dey racist rulers of the time for there now hardship. Meh feel no remorse. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The only time white people care about Africa is when news of whites being mistreated is reported.
While I do feel bad for the poor of any race, I can't feel sorry for these folks at all. It's not like they were born into poverty like some whites in the US...these folks lived comfortably under the Apartheid system, I'm pretty sure they weren't crying racial injustice when they passed the many poor black people on their way to work and their nice homes. So now that the shoe is on the other foot it's "boo hoo the government is racist". They obviously were so comfortable under the Apartheid system they just painted themselves in a corner and refused to grow with the new South Africa. I bet they still cussing black people today.
posted
at least there is some good news for blacks in america when it come to black owned bussiness, but they need to come together and make this news known to the masess,so i am not one ofthe folks who say nothing has change or will never change.this could change,it is just afor black americans in terms of mindset i do not see a change awhole .
Black business owners on rise
Tuesday, April 18, 2006 By Elwin Green, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Black Americans are becoming entrepreneurs at a rapidly increasing rate and Pittsburgh is following the trend, a new report issued by the Census Bureau suggests.
The report, "Survey of Business Owners: Black-Owned Firms: 2002," says that between 1997 and 2002, the number of black-owned businesses in the United States rose 45 percent to 1.2 million, while the combined revenue increased 25 percent to $88.8 billion.
"It's encouraging to see not just the number but the sales and receipts of black-owned businesses are growing at such a robust rate, confirming that these firms are among the fastest growing segments of our economy," said Census Bureau Director Louis Kincannon.
Slated for release today, the report also shows a significant if not quite as dramatic increase in local black business ownership. It found 4,363 black-owned firms in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area as of 2002, up 38.8 percent from 3,142 in 1997. Revenue figures for the metro area, which includes Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland counties, were not available.
Doris Carson Williams, president of the African American Chamber of Commerce of Western Pennsylvania, found the Census Bureau figures encouraging but not surprising.
As blacks join the numbers of those being downsized by corporations, she said, "more and more have found that entrepreneurship is a viable option for them. They don't want to go through the corporate menagerie again."
Both local and national figures show the greatest numbers of black-owned businesses in the fields of health care and social assistance.
Other categories with a strong presence of black-owned businesses include retail; professional, scientific and technical services; and transportation and warehousing.
New York City had more black-owned firms than any other city at 98,076, followed by Chicago (39,424), Los Angeles (25,958), Houston (21,226), and Detroit (19,530).
Among states, New York had the greatest number of black-owned firms with 129,324, followed by California (112,873), Florida (102,079), Georgia (90,461) , and Texas (88,769). These five states accounted for about 44 percent of all black-owned businesses in the United States. Pennsylvania had 24,757.
In many ways, Kenya's recent economic prosperity has exceeded that of its neighbors. Gross domestic product doubled to $26.4 billion over the past five years, propelled by tea, coffee and other agricultural exports, as well as a booming tourism trade. Trendy coffee shops and glittering, multitiered malls have popped up in the capital Nairobi's leafy suburbs. The introduction of free, primary-school education in 2002 means that about 90% of the population now have access to at least that level of schooling.
Yet Kenya ranks among the world's 10 most unequal countries for wealth, more unequal than Nigeria and slightly less than South Africa, according to a 2004 study by the Nairobi-based Society for International Development using figures from the U.N. Development Programme and the Kenyan government. The report says the richest 10% of Kenya's population owns nearly half the country's wealth, while the bottom 10% owns less than 1%, a gap that has been increasing since 1994.
The disparity is acutely felt in areas that are dominated by Kalenjin, Luo, Luhya and other non-Kikuyu tribes. During the colonial period, the Kikuyu were favored by the British in part because they adapted more readily than other tribes -- who were largely nomadic or physically distant from British influence -- to the capitalist economy imposed by colonial rule. After independence in 1963, they were bolstered by President Jomo Kenyatta, a Kikuyu, rising over the next decades to dominate politics and business across Kenya. Only 22% of the population, they are the biggest group in a country with more than 40 different tribes.
Kikuyus continued to dominate under Mr. Kibaki, reaping greater benefits as the economy grew. Critics of Mr. Kibaki say he hasn't done enough to make sure the new wealth trickled down to other tribes.
In Central Province north of Nairobi, the Kikuyus' ancestral land, 65% of the population lives above the poverty line, well above the national average of 47%. After Nairobi, Central Province has more homes with running water and electricity, and higher rates of primary and secondary-school enrollment than any other province in the country.
In contrast, in the adjacent Rift Valley, the ancestral home of the Kalenjin, more than 56% of the population lives below the poverty line. The infant mortality rate is higher than in Central Province.
Tribal rivalries here run deep. Under colonial rule, the Kalenjin were kicked off their land by the British. After independence, Kikuyu farmers moved in, preventing the Kalenjin from returning.
During elections in 1992, bitterness over the Kikuyu land grab boiled over. Kalenjin warriors attacked Kikuyu settlers. Over the years, hundreds of thousands of Kikuyus were displaced in clashes across the Rift Valley and western provinces.
Some of the fighting took place in and around the town of Eldoret, now a hotbed of election-related violence.
Tensions Temporarily Subside
A bustling market town 160 miles northwest of Nairobi, Eldoret had been transformed by the country's new prosperity. Once a truck stop on the road to Uganda, it grew into a thriving commercial hub. Markets burst with tomatoes, corn and wheat, and factories churned half the nation's milk.
Some residents say ethnic tensions had also begun to subside. Different groups lived and worked side-by-side and even intermarried. Longstanding stereotypes -- for instance, that Kalenjin are stubborn farmers and the Kikuyu arrogant entrepreneurs -- began to fall away, says Alfred Osieko, 47 years old, an electrical consultant and ethnic Luhya, a tribe which has also felt marginalized by the Kikuyus.
"I never saw 'Kikuyu,'" says Mr. Osieko. "I took them as individuals."
Others say little had changed. Many Kalenjins, unable to raise enough money to buy their lands, continued to work as tenants or small-scale farmers. Meanwhile, Kikuyus owned and farmed land their families had purchased at independence. In Eldoret, Kikuyus were more often the landlords and they ran the most successful shops in town.
"The Kikuyus are business-minded people," says Sammy Choge, a Kalenjin hotelier, who bought the New Show Park Inn in Eldoret about a year and a half ago, from a Kikuyu. Kalenjins are no good at business, Mr. Choge explains, but he prefers hotel management to farming, the family trade.
Mr. Choge invested about $45,000 in new beds and televisions for the hotel rooms, and served the Kenyan favorite, nyama choma, a smoky grilled meat, in his outdoor restaurant. But next door, the Race Course Inn, run by an established Kikuyu family, the Munges, continued to be more popular, says Mr. Choge.
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quote:Originally posted by kenndo: HOMEOUR CITYOUR NATIONOUR WORLDOUR FOCUSOUR VIEWSOUR CULTUREOUR SPORTSOUR ENTERTAINMENTCLASSIFIEDSPHOTO GALLERYARCHIVESSEARCH: Youth advocates: CPS students speak on school, personal safety LSC election deadline now March 24 Barack Obama gives speech on race in U.S. Youth advocates: CPS students speak on school, personal safety LSC election deadline now March 24 Barack Obama gives speech on race in U.S.
South Africa ripe for Black business growth potential by Ayana Haarun
In the mist of endless sunshine, fresh produce, and glowing brown faces, I spent much of my four-month stay in sub-Saharan Africa exploring the many opportunities I saw to make money.
Contrary to the perception of Africa as a perpetual mess–too poor, politically corrupt, and AIDS-ridden to offer economic opportunity– many African nations are experiencing the best economic growth in years.
According to a 2007 report by the U.S. Department of Commerce, sub-Saharan African countries grew by 5.3 percent, a number higher than the world average. “At this rate, Africa's poverty rate could halve by 2015.
Take India and China out of the equation, and sub-Saharan Africa is actually growing faster than Asia,” SeekingAlpha.com, a provider of stock market opinion and analysis, reported.
While the West virtually ignores Africa–currently, only 1 percent of the private capital in the world is invested in sub-Saharan Africa–China has aggressively increased its presence on the continent. In 2006, trade between China and Africa soared by 40 percent to a record $55.5 billion, according to SeekingAlpha.com.
In her cozy home in Johannesburg, South Africa, I spoke with Monica Faith Stewart, a Chicago native and former Illinois state senator who is now the Managing Director of the State of Illinois Africa Office of Trade and Investment. Stewart first came to South Africa in 1994 as an international observer for the country's first democratic election.
Nelson Mandela was among the candidates for South Africa’s presidency. “One of the most important experiences I had was being involved in Harold Washington's election. There were lots of parallels with Nelson Mandela. When I came [to South Africa] it was the same 'keep hope alive' kind of sensation. It was overwhelming to look as far as I could see–Black people lined up to vote.
The chance to be in a real transition, I couldn't pass up,” said Stewart. After Mandela's election Stewart returned to South Africa. She kept her foot in both worlds, lobbying South Africa's Parliament on behalf of Chicago-based clients. In 2000, Stewart became Managing Director of the Africa branch of the revitalized Illinois Office of Trade and Investment. Originally established in 1965, the OTI helps Illinois companies identify new markets and locate distribution channels for their products and services abroad.
Today, the OTI has 10 foreign offices across the globe. Multi-national companies based in Ilinois such as Abbott Labs, John Deere, Caterpillar, Motorola, and Boeing, help make the state the sixth largest exporting one in the nation. In 2007, the OTI reported Illinois exports to Africa totaled $846 million, an increase of 46 percent from 2005.
Top sectors include machinery, chemicals, computer and electronic products, transportation equipment, fabricated metal components, and food and kindred products, the agency reported. “For most American companies, South Africa represents the gateway to Africa. It offers comfortable and familiar infrastructure and banking systems,” Stewart said. South Africa now accounts for 67 percent of economic activity between Illinois and Africa, according to OTI.
Although American corporate presence is slowly increasing in Africa, Black-owned companies don't have strong representation. For Stewart, change begins with a visit. “People often can't believe what they're seeing,” Stewart said of the frequent visitors she receives. “Americans are notoriously ignorant about Africa.
But like Africa suffers terribly from negative perception, we suffer from negative self-conception tied to our ideas about where we come from.” Stewart exclaims, “If African Americans were a separate nation we'd have nearly the same purchasing power as the entire African continent. It is important for the sons and daughters of Africa to come home and make a contribution. African Americans have a lot to offer.
And, there is satisfaction in demonstrating a connection between African Americans and Africa.” For companies interested in doing business in Africa, Stewart suggests first researching the markets. “Get on the Internet and learn about this market. There are opportunities and you get a higher return.” Stewart’s assertion is supported by MoneyWeek.com.
The Web site indicates that Africa currently offers the highest returns on foreign and direct investment of any region in the world. And African companies are some of the most profitable and fastest growing, according to the site. For small and medium sized businesses, Stewart recommends finding a local partner. “If business people think they have a marketable product or service, find a joint venture partner in the new market.
There is a wealth of opportunities for Black contractors selling building materials, engineers, and in communications technology.” Partnering with a Black Economic Empowerment company may enhance chances of obtaining large contracts and finance. According to BEE regulations, businesses must have a set percentage of previously disadvantaged people (Black South Africans) in management, shareholding and partnerships.
Much like affirmative action in the United States, South Africa organizations must comply with BEE regulations to qualify for several economic incentives or obtain government contracts. In addition, South Africa offers attractive incentives geared toward foreigners who want to invest or open a business in South Africa.
The African nation’s Department of Trade and Industry offers non-tax grants in the form of below average interest rates on business loans, utility allowances for larger companies, tax deductions, and allowances for initial setup or relocation costs. Stewart also suggested looking to South Africa for career opportunities. “There is a real need for technical skills-in agriculture, engineering, industrial and environmental fields,” she said.
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post by Goodwill 276 hours 30 minutes ago
My NAME IS Goodwill a south African exhange student in the US Studying computer science i'm pleased to have read about the points made by Ayana Haarun with regard to South Africa ripe for Black bussiness growth potential it is in the truest sense how in the past decade as Black South Africans and country at large we implimented drastic measures to make a mark in the world showing our readiness and welcome back American investors and the others from around the Globe which has been a pleasure for us as a rebuilding nation to take part in the world economic status I stand as a symbol of that today being privilledged to study in the US empowered by my country and America for tomorow that i participate in the economy of the whole world however it is my plea to interact with American enterprenous who can help advice me in any regard since i will be goin back home to work even hard the stage is opened for me all i need is solidify my plans and work even extra hard I thanks you and anyone willing just to share information can reach to me at --
one correction above if you go by gnp ppp the gnp will be higherhttp://www.chicagodefender.com/view.php?I=509
Kenndo, why do you keep posting nonsense? This article is all about bringing WHITE and FOREIGN businesses into South Africa, meaning creating WEALTH for foreigners. Where does it discuss GROWING the number of black owned corporations in South Africa? NOWHERE. The woman in the article is nothing but a FRONT PERSON and SPOKESPERSON for WHITE American corporations. Stop being ridiculous. Foreign direct investment does NOT EMEAN black owned, it means FOREIGN OWNED. South Africa and its sell out government is banking on FOREIGN investment meaning the FOREIGNERS seeing opportunities to MAKE MONEY for themselves from South African labor and South African resources. This government DOES NOT have an agenda to INCREASE the ability of blacks in South Africa to CREATE wealth for themselves through OWNERSHIP and CONTROL of their OWN economy, corporations, resources or industries.
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posted
IT'S BOTH.YOU ONLY LOOK FOR ONE THING.THEY ARE DOING IT.IF I FIND SOMETHING THAT CLEARLY SAYS THAT BLACK BUSINESS ARE GROWING THERE YOU WILL STILL CALL IT NON-SENSE.I CAN'T WIN WITH YOU.SO I WILL POST WHAT I HAVE TO POST AND LET OTHERS READ FOR THEMSELVES.THEIR ARE BLACK CORPORATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA BY THE WAY OWN BY BLACKS.
The Web site indicates that Africa currently offers the highest returns on foreign and direct investment of any region in the world. And African companies are some of the most profitable and fastest growing,
And African companies are some of the most profitable and fastest growing,
I GUESS YOU DID NOT READ THIS PART HUH?I THOUGHT THEIR WAS NO BLACK BUSI- NESS OR OWNSHIP IN SOUTH AFRICA.IT SEEMS THERE IS AND IT'S GROWING.
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INSTEAD OF COMPLAINING HERE IS ONE EXAMPLE.THIS SHOULD SUM UP THE SOUTH AFRICAN SITUATION SO FAR,SO AFTER THIS I DO NOT WANT YOU TO SAY ANOTHER WORD ABOUT.
South Africa's next big thing
Yet ten years after the end of apartheid, black participation in South Africa's tourism industry is still woefully limited.
Black participation
Yet ten years after the end of apartheid, black participation in South Africa's tourism industry is still woefully limited.
"The tourism industry in our country is still lily-white," Bernard says. "It's still owned and controlled by the white people."
That's why the government's black economic empowerment programme is compelling tourism firms, just like those in other sectors, to open their doors to the black majority.
Seeking the money
But there are obstacles to black ownership in South Africa's economy - not least the legacy of apartheid, which left millions of blacks with few skills and little education.
The driver of a safari vehicle
Black entrepreneurs are carving out a place in the tourism business
And the biggest stumbling block is access to finance.
Under the previous regime, many black people were not allowed to own property, and without collateral to put up for a loan they now struggle to get financing to start up their own businesses.
SA Tourism is one organisation trying to promote black empowerment in the tourism industry, in part by seeking ways to bridge the finance gap.
Chief Executive Cheryl Carolus - formerly a senior African National Congress official and South Africa's High Commissioner to the UK - says the banking sector must be given incentives to come on board.
"What we're now doing is talking to the banks and explaining to them that this is a highly bankable sector and it makes business sense," she says.
From a trickle to a flood
The end of apartheid has made South Africa an increasingly popular tourist destination, and growth in the industry continues to outstrip the national average.
The sector now contributes about 75bn rand to the country's economy every year, and employs 4% of the population.
But the government's own targets mean efforts to change the make-up of the industry and the overall economy will not occur until 2014.
In the meantime, it will be down to individuals like Bernard to carve out a stake for the black majority in the booming tourism business.
SBC to enter fast-growing South
African cellular market.
MTN's other shareholders include Cable and Wireless, a U.K.-based
telecommunications company; Naftel, a black business organization; M-
Cell, an affiliate of South African-based cable TV company Multichoice; FABCOS, an organization to promote black businesses; Union CO., the
investment arm of South Africa's third largest trade union; and Transnet, South Africa's state-owned rail, airline and harbor transport company.
The company is headquartered in Johannesburg and employs some--
HERE IS AN EXAMPLE OF THINGS HAPPENING BUT SLOWLY.
• Makwetla: Provincial Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) conference (24/05/2007)
Published: 14 Sep 07 - 0:00
The second annual black economic-empowerment (BEE) survey, released by audit and advisory firm KPMG, shows an increase in the number of companies that view empowerment as vital to their growth prospects. Of the 2007 respondents, 86% indicated that their BEE strategies were focused on growing the company, rather than just complying with legislation, compared with 55% in 2006.
Further, more than 90% of the 2007 survey respondents have an empowerment strategy in place, which is a 10% increase from last year’s 80%.
There was also an increase in the number of respondents that had their empowerment strategies approved by their boards, at 84% in the 2007 survey, compared with 70% in the 2006 survey.
This indicates that most companies have progressed past the stage of strategy formulation and approval, and on to implementation, says KPMG BEE services director Sandile Hlophe. “Overall, the results confirm the commitment to the implementation of BEE strategies by South African businesses,” he notes. “This is an indication that there is an increased focus on BEE, and that businesses are beginning to view BEE as a business-imperative growth strategy.” To allow for a view of BEE implementation in the different industry sectors, the respondents were categorised according to industry sectors. There was good representation from most industries, with 31% of respondents from the finance and business services industry, while 13% were from the manufacturing industry, and 11% from the mining and quarrying industry.
All industries, except the storage and communication, (including information and communication technology) industry, listed employment equity as a priority, while skills development featured prominently on the list of prioritised elements. However, preferential procurement and enterprise development were never listed as the highest priority. This is an area of concern, says Hlophe, because the largest part of economic transformation needs to be driven through procurement and enterprise development, if the economy is to achieve the desired growth levels.
Of the seven elements of the government’s empowerment scorecard, the greatest challenge appears to be ownership, especially in the retail and motor trade, and repair services sector, where 50% of respondents cited ownership as their biggest challenge.
One quarter of the community, social and personal services sector, the manufacturing sector, and the wholesale trade, commercial agents and allied services sector also cited ownership as a challenge. “From our survey it is clear that corporate South Africa has embraced BEE, and has begun to implement and monitor its BEE progress in a meaningful manner,” says Hlophe.
“This bodes well for the continued economic empowerment of the previously disenfranchised black majority population.
“That said, there is still a long way to go before tangible equitable economic opportunities can be realised by a majority of the black population.
“It will take a couple more years to reach the desired state of equitable economic opportunities for all South Africans.” Edited by: Martin Zhuwakinyu
South African vineyard Will South Africa's wine industry be 15% black-owned within five years?
When South Africa held its first democratic elections in 1994 the balance of political power finally turned.
Since then the challenge for the country has been how to transfer economic power from a white minority to the black majority without destroying the economy itself.
That question is at the heart of the movement known as Black Economic Empowerment, or BEE, which has been a key but controversial policy of the ANC government.
At a recent conference in Cape Town, wine industry executives discussed how to bring black empowerment to what is one of the country's oldest industries.
Charters have already been introduced for finance and mining companies, but not without a few bumps along the way.
The experience seemed to indicate that the changes envisioned were too radical for big investors to stomach and the government later negotiated a less demanding target of 26% black ownership within 10 years.
Criticism of black empowerment has also come from outside the investor community.
Most South Africans believe something must be done to increase opportunities for all but they still view BEE as problematic.
Some regard it as a form of discrimination, even "reverse racism".
Top down
"I think it is immoral and obscene that people will qualify for top positions because they are black," says Mark Lowe, trade and industry spokesman for the opposition Democratic Alliance.
He thinks the government has made the mistake of empowering from the top down and "playing the race card".
There is no form of crony capitalism here
Lionel October, government industry spokesman "As long as the ANC focuses on transferring equity from one small group to another, its empowerment strategy will remain a myth for those who need it most," he says.
Not just owners but managers
But one of the prime movers behind BEE, Lionel October, the deputy director general of trade and industry, says the government has responded to the criticism by widening empowerment.
He says BEE now entails not merely transfer of ownership but also participation in management and development of skills.
And both the government and the private sector are putting up cash to fund it, he says.
He also denies that BEE benefits only the well-connected.
"There is no form of crony capitalism here," he says.
For a country that has endured staggering racial inequality in the past, it is not surprising that its majority-elected government wants to see a greater slice of the cake for that majority.
But the government need look only as far as Zimbabwe to see how an ostensible attempt to redress past inequalities can lead to economic chaos.
It knows it has to tread carefully if it is to avoid provoking the sort of turmoil that was so miraculously avoided a decade ago.
News from Parliament
Parliament reviews SA black economic empowerment plan
Trade & Industry Committee
20 August 2007
Lionel October, DTI DDG, opened a two-day parliamentary workshop on the application of BEE codes of practice by pointing out that there existed a perception in the business world that BEE was “all about ownership factors.”
He said that whilst there was a state objective to increase the number of black people that manage, control and own enterprises, there was an urgent need by business to move away from this narrow based understanding over the overall objectives of the Codes of Good Practice. “Piercing through the corporate veil is the problem”, he said.
October said that, in terms of this limited understanding, this particular aspect of BEE was “going quite well”, i.e. on the ownership issue. He addedr that there were six other aspects of BEE covered by the codes of practice that needed much more attention and in many aspects the private sector was “not coming on board as it should”. There was a “confusion and lack of a correct understanding of broad-based BEE” across whole sections of the economy.
Whilst a marketing campaign was planned by the DTI, it had emerged from the presidential workshop on the same subject, October said, that perhaps a ”more punitive approach” be adopted towards recalcitrant business owners. DTI, said October, was “looking to Parliament for guidance on this subject; hence the workshop with the trade and industry portfolio committee over two days.”
“There is a need to review the whole of the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act and to re-look at the whole approach to procurement as a discipline, as opposed to assuming that it is solely about price preference”, October said. “A final draft of amendments to this Act will be presented in the near future to cabinet.” He added that a strategy of alignments with all the other pieces of legislation that involve BEE is being formulated by the DTI. For a more detailed summary of the BEE portfolio committee workshop, go to a full article on our BEE website.
(Documents can be found on Sabinet's Policy Documents.)
posted
Kenndo, I am not saying that things aren't going on in Africa, what I am saying is that blacks will continue to be IN POVERTY as long as the MAJORITY of the economics of Africa is controlled by whites. To this day, WHITES control the MAJORITY of South Africa's land, industries and companies. While there have been INITIATIVES for change, most of these initiatives have NOT resulted in a major change for the black South Africans.
And the facts do not reflect the rosy picture you keep trying to paint for blacks in South Africa:
quote: Black South African demographics
As of the census of 2001, there are 35,416,164 Black Africans and 8,625,050 Black African households residing in South Africa. The Black South African population density is 29/km². The density of Black households is 7/km². Black South Africans make up 79.0% of the total population.
The percentage of all Black South African households that are made up of individuals is 19.9%. The average Black household size is 4.11 members.
In South Africa, the Black population is spread out with 34.0% under the age of 15, 21.6% from 15 to 24, 28.3% from 25 to 44, 11.8% from 45 to 64, and 4.3% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age of a Black African is 21 years. For every 100 Black females there are 91.1 Black males. For every 100 Black females age 18 and over, there are 86.2 Black males.
In South Africa, 0.7% of Black residents speak Afrikaans at home, 0.5% speak English, 2.0% speak Southern Ndebele, 22.3% speak Xhosa, 30.1% speak Zulu, 11.9% speak Northern Sotho, 10.0% speak Sesotho, 10.3% speak Tswana, 3.4% speak Swati, 2.9% speak Venda, and 5.6% speak Tsonga. 0.3% of the Black African population speaks a non-official language at home.
With regard to religion, 79.9% of Black residents are Christian, 17.5% have no religion, 0.2% are Muslim, 0.0% are Jewish, 0.0% are Hindu and 2.3% have other or undetermined beliefs.
With regard to education, 22.3% of Black aged 20 and over have received no schooling, 18.5% have had some primary school, 6.9% have completed only primary school, 30.4% have had some high school education, 16.8% have finished only high school, and 5.2% have an education higher than the high school level. Overall, 22.0% of Black Africans have completed high school.
The percentage of Black South African housing units having a telephone and/or mobile phone in the dwelling is 31.1%. The percentage having access to a nearby phone is 57.2%, and 11.7% do not have nearby access or any access. The percentage of Black African households that have a flush or chemical toilet is 41.9%. Refuse is removed from 45.3% of Black African households by the municipality at least once a week, and 11.0% have no rubbish disposal. Some 17.9% of Black Africans have running water inside their dwelling, 51.7% have running water on their property, and 80.2% have access to running water. The percentage of Black African households using electricity for cooking is 39.3%, for heating, 37.2%, and for lighting, 62.0%. Radios are owned by 68.7% of Black African households while 44.2% have a television, 1.8% own a computer, 40.0% have a refrigerator, and 24.6% have a mobile phone.
The unemployment rate of the Black population aged 15-65 is 28.1%.
The median annual income of Black working adults aged 15-65 is ZAR 12,073. Black African males have a median annual income of ZAR 14,162 versus ZAR 8,903 for Black African females.
quote: White South African demographics
As of the census of 2001, there are 4,293,640 Whites and 1,409,690 White households residing in South Africa. The White population density is 4/km². The density of White households is 1.16/km². Whites make up 9.6% of the total population.
The percentage of all White households that are made up of individuals is 19.1%. The average White household size is 3.05 members.
In South Africa, the White population is spread out with 19.0% under the age of 15, 15.1% from 15 to 24, 31.0% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 11.1% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age of a White is 35 years. For every 100 White females there are 94.0 White males. For every 100 White females age 18 and over, there are 91.1 White males.
In South Africa, 59.1% of White residents speak Afrikaans at home, 39.3% speak English and 0.1% speak Xhosa. 1.1% of the White population speaks a non-official language at home.
With regard to religion, 86.8% of White residents are Christian, 8.8% have no religion, 0.2% are Muslim, 1.4% are Jewish, and 2.7% have other or undetermined beliefs.
With regard to education, 1.4% of Whites aged 20 and over have received no schooling, 1.2% have had some primary school, 0.8% have completed only primary school, 25.9% have had some high school education, 40.9% have finished only high school, and 29.8% have an education higher than the high school level. Overall, 70.7% of Whites have completed high school.
The percentage of White housing units having a telephone and/or mobile phone in the dwelling is 95.4%. The percentage having access to a nearby phone is 4.4%, and 0.2% do not have nearby access or any access. The percentage of White households that have a flush or chemical toilet is 98.7%. Refuse is removed from 90.8% of White households by the municipality at least once a week, and 0.5% have no rubbish disposal. Some 87.2% of White have running water inside their dwelling, 95.6% have running water on their property, and 99.4% have access to running water. The percentage of White households using electricity for cooking is 96.6%, for heating, 93.2%, and for lighting, 99.2%. Radios are owned by 94.7% of White households while 92.6% have a television, 46.0% own a computer, 97.6% have a refrigerator, and 74.6% have a mobile phone.
The unemployment rate of the White population aged 15-65 is 4.1%.
The median annual income of White working adults aged 15-65 is ZAR 65,405. White males have a median annual income of ZAR 81,701 versus ZAR 52,392 for White females. The annual income distribution of Whites in South Africa is 79.
MOst blacks in South Africa still live in poverty. Most blacks in South Africa are not graduating high school. Most blacks in South Africa don't have electricity in their homes. Most blacks don't have running water in their homes.
Just because a few blacks have gotten some gains in terms of the new BEE goals in South Africa DOES NOT MEAN THAT BLACKS ARE BETTER OFF in South Africa. Stop reporting the nonsense that the whites WANT you to see. There is a 25-40% unemployment rate for black Africans in South Africa, compared to 5-10% for whites. MOST of the growth in South Africa's economy is GOING TO WHITES, because THEY own the companies and THEY make the profits. This is NOT going to blacks. Blacks need to stop pretending that WHITE companies that make money off of African land, labour and resources represents PROGRESS for black Africans. It DOESN'T. Most of the WEALTH in South Africa is in the hands of whites and will STAY THERE as long as blacks make excuses for NOT demanding a GREATER share of DIRECT control over the wealth of the country, not through fake initiatives but DIRECT control and ownership of capital, industries and farms that produce wealth.
The average income for blacks in South Africa is about 15,000 rand. This is compared to an average income for whites in South Africa of almost 70,000 rand. You must be joking if you think that there is any REAL progress in South Africa. Even IF the average black income went up to 25,000 it would STILL be WELL BEHIND whites and would NOT represent any REAL PROGRESS.
Blacks are SO FAR DOWN on the economic ladder in South Africa and most of Africa, that some think that just going up a few rungs MEANS SOMETHING. It doesn't mean jack. It means you are STILL at the bottom of the ladder, just a FEW STEPS UP from being called NIGGER, being raped, robbed and having your brains beat out for even having the nerve to LOOK the wrong way at white folks. But for some, that means progress and that now we should jump up and down and scream for joy because white folks are making more money than ever while blacks at least get to watch without being beat up.
It makes sense that blacks do not want to admit that in the global race for power and economic wealth they are at the very BOTTOM of every chart and statistic, but LYING to yourself does not CHANGE ANYTHING. And this goes for blacks ALL OVER the planet. Blacks DO NOT control ANY major aspect of economics or industry in ANY part of the world PERIOD. And it is like that for a reason and there are those who intend to KEEP it that way. And Barak Obama, like Condi Rice and other leaders hand picked by the system are nothing but more crack designed to keep you HIGH on the fantasies of black progress and achievement that DON'T really exist.
But note that the KEY stats for blacks in South Africa are STILL not good, no matter how much loud noise they make about progress and GDP growth. That is why there has been so much unrest in South Africa over the last year or more that has largely gone unreported in the West. Most South Africans don't care JACK about the growth in GDP, because it is NOT affecting them directly. They are STILL living in squalid conditions and the growth in GDP hasn't CHANGED that. The ANC is nothing but a front for white industrialists in South Africa and has ALREADY merged with the former apartheid NATIONALIST party. Those people DO NOT represent the interests of black South Africans.
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SO BLACKS WERE BETTER OFF WHEN WHITES CONTROL SOUTH AFRICA IS THAT WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO SAY.I SEE SOME SEWLF HATRED ON YOUR PART DOUG.
THINGS ARE WAAAAY MUCH BETTER FOR BLACKS IN SOUTH AFRICA TODAY THAN THEY WERE IN 1980,1990 AND 1993.THAT IS SOME STROMFRONT CRAP YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT.YOU DO NOT SEE PROGRESS IN ANYTHING AND I AGREE WITH YONIS AND Sundiata UP TO A POINT ON THIS. YOU ARE HELPLESS. HERE IS A BASIC DETAIL PLAN OF THE OWNERSHIP AND OTHER THINGS.IT'S ALOT SO TAKE YOUR TIME AND READ. THERE WASA LOT MORE BUT IT WAS TOO MUCH AND I SPENT TO MUCH TIME ALREADY FINDIG THIS INFO AND COPYING IT.SO LET THIS INFO SINK IN ABOUT THE PLAN.AFTER READING THIS YOU SHOULD GET A MORE CLEAR IDEA.IF YOU DO NOT GET IT.TOO BAD.THERE IS NOTHING I COULD SAY I DO FOR YOU.I AM LEAVING BECAUSE I KEPT HAVING TO FIND INFO LIKE THIS ON THIS FORUM AND CERIAN FOLKS JUST DO NOT WANT TO LISTEN .SO AFTER THIS JUST LEAVE ME ALONE.BYE.
THAT IS 2001 CENSUS,SINCE THEN BLACKS GREW IN NUMBERS. THE LAST TIME I CHECK THERE WERE 40% OF BLACKS IN SOUTH AFRICA WHO WERE POOR. I DID NOT READ ALL THAT BY THE WAY BECAUSE THE MINUTE YOU PUT UP A 2001 CENSUS,I KNEW YOU WAS TELLING OUTDATED INFO.RECENT STUDIES SAY MORE BLACKS ARE GOING INTO THE MIDDLECLASS MORE AND MORE.BY THE WAY WHO GOIN TO CALL A BLACK PERSON IN THE CONGO OR GABON A NIGGER.THEY WILL GET THIER HEADS BASHE IN.YOU ARE BRINGING AMERICAN PROBLEMS TO AFRICA.AFRICANS IN THEIR COUNTRIES ARE THE ELITE,NOT WHITES.IN RAW NUMBERS THEIR ARE MORE BLACKS IN THE MIDDLE CLASS AND ARE RICH THAN WHITE SOUTH AFRICANS.
HERE IS A CLEARER PLAN.
INTRODUCTION - THE TRANSFORMATION IMPERATIVE
1.1 Our country requires an economy that can meet the needs of all our economic
citizens – our people and their enterprises – in a sustainable manner. This
will only be possible if our economy builds on the full potential of all persons
and communities across the length and breadth of this country. Government’s
objective is to achieve this vision of an adaptive economy characterised by
growth, employment and equity by 2014.
It is crucial to understand the magnitude of what took place in our past in order to understand why we need to act together as a nation to bring about an economic transformation in the interest
of all.
c 1.3 The vision of an economy that meets the needs of the people in a more equitable manner goes back to the Freedom Charter of 1955. This was refined and developed in the contemporary context in the Reconstruction and Development Programme (1994). The need to effect redress in the interests of equity is also embodied in our Constitution. Subsequently, government has outlined broad economic strategies to transform the economy by 2014. These strategies include the Microeconomic Reform Strategy and a range of specific strategies such as the Integrated Manufacturing Strategy and the National Research and Development Strategy.
1.4 The period since 1994 has seen the South African economy undergo profound
restructuring. Ten years of consistent economic growth has been recorded.
Macroeconomic stabilisation has largely been achieved, providing a platform for accelerating the growth rate. The economy has become increasingly integrated
into global markets and has become a successful exporter of manufactured
goods and value-added services. South Africa is now able to position itself as an advanced manufacturing economy.
an economic transformation strategy must form part of government’s strategic
approach to globalisation to ensure that we benefit from these processes and
not suffer deleterious effects. More than just an economic imperative, the
deracialisation and engendering of our economy is a moral requirement in
keeping with the values and principles of equity enshrined in our Constitution.
1.8 Progress has been recorded in undoing the legacy of the past, however, the
extent to which this economic success has been shared by all of our people is still inadequate for the requirements of a stable and prosperous society. The time is right for the introduction of a comprehensive and focused strategy for broadbased
black economic empowerment.
1.9 Black economic empowerment is already an unfolding process in our economy, however, this document outlines the more comprehensive and focused strategy
that is now needed and adds impetus to the process by providing greater clarity
and certainty. The document begins with an analysis of the legacy of dispossession
and disempowerment that characterised our economic development until 1994.
It is essential that we understand this in order to comprehend actions which are
needed for success. The steps taken to overcome this legacy are examined and
lessons from this experience are extracted.
Notes South Africa’s Economic Transformation: A Strategy for Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment 12 A STRATEGY FOR BROAD-BASED BLACK ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT 3.1 Introduction 3.1.1 In the previous chapter it had been established that South Africa needs a focused BEE strategy to achieve the broad-based economic empowerment of black persons - a generic term, which means indigenous Africans, Coloureds and Indians - in our country. This will facilitate growth, development and stability in our economy. This chapter sets out the core components of such a strategy in order to provide greater clarity and a measure of certainty to the process of BEE which is currently unfolding. 3.1.2 This chapter will outline government’s approach to the definition and measurement of BEE as well as the policy instruments that will be utilised to achieve our objectives. The strategy also emphasises the importance of a partnership approach to achieving BEE and as such the document specifically addresses the question of sector charters and partnerships. The financing of BEE is also discussed and the financial instruments are spelt out in the attached appendices. 3.2 Defining Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment 3.2.1 The challenge in defining black economic empowerment is to find the appropriate balance between a very broad definition and an overly narrow one. To define BEE too broadly equates BEE with economic development and transformation in general. The strategy is then commensurate with the totality of government’s programme of reconstruction and development. To define BEE too narrowly limits it to a set of transactions transferring corporate assets from white to black ownership. 3.2.2 Accordingly, government defines BEE as an integrated and coherent socioeconomic process that directly contributes to the economic transformation of South Africa and brings about significant increases in the numbers of black people that manage, own and control the country’s economy, as well as significant decreases in income inequalities. 3.2.3 Thus BEE process will include elements of human resource development, employment equity, enterprise development, preferential procurement, as well as investment, ownership and control of enterprises and economic assets. 3.3 Policy objectives of BEE The successful implementation of the BEE strategy will be evaluated against the following policy objectives: • A substantial increase in the number of black people who have ownership and control of existing and new enterprises, • A substantial increase in the number of black people who have ownership and control of existing and new enterprises in the priority sectors of the economy that government has identified in its microeconomic reform strategy2 , • A significant increase in the number of new black enterprises, black-empowered enterprises and black-engendered enterprises, • A significant increase in number of black people in executive and senior management of enterprises, 2 These sectors include agriculture and agro-processing, mining, minerals and metals beneficiation, clothing and textiles, automobiles and components, aerospace, information and communication technology sector, chemicals, cultural industries including media, film, music and crafts, as well as high value-added services.
Notes 13 • An increasing proportion of the ownership and management of economic activities vested in community and broad-based enterprises (such as trade unions, employee trusts, and other collective enterprises) and co-operatives • Increased ownership of land and other productive assets, improved access to infrastructure, increased acquisition of skills, and increased participation in productive economic activities in under-developed areas including the 13 nodal areas identified in the Urban Renewal Programme and the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programme, • Accelerated and shared economic growth, • Increased income levels of black persons and a reduction of income inequalities between and within race groups. 3.4 Key principles The strategy is underpinned by four key principles. 3.4.1 Black Economic Empowerment is broad-based. Societies that are characterised by racial or ethnically defined wealth disparities are not likely to be socially and politically stable. The process of BEE seeks to accelerate the deracialisation of the South African economy and fast track the re-entry of historically marginalised communities into the mainstream of the economy. 3.4.2 Black Economic Empowerment is an inclusive process. A more equitable economy will benefit all South Africans, individuals and enterprises. The process of BEE is an inclusive one, and all enterprises operating within South Africa can, and indeed should, participate in this process. This strategy will be implemented throughout all sectors of the economy and is not limited only to those enterprises that derive income from government procurement or those where the sector is regulated by government. 3.4.3 Black Economic Empowerment is associated with good governance. A fundamental part of our economic reform and transformation is improving the quality and transparency of all economic activity. Accordingly, BEE must be associated with and ensure the highest standards of corporate governance. Concerted efforts will be made to ensure that the quality of corporate boards and governance is improved. 3.4.4 Black Economic Empowerment is part of our growth strategy. 3.4.4.1 Economic growth, development and BEE are complementary and related processes. Government’s approach is that BEE must be an inclusive process and not an exclusive process. No economy can grow by excluding any part of its people and an economy that is not growing cannot integrate all of its citizens in a meaningful way. As such this strategy stresses a BEE process that is associated with growth, development and enterprise development, and not merely the redistribution of existing wealth. 3.4.4.2 New, inclusive patterns of wealth accumulation must come from both existing economic activity and new economic activity. Thus we need higher levels of investment that generates a substantial amount of new economic activities. At the same time, ownership patterns must change. 3.4.4.3 An effective and successful process of BEE and accelerated economic growth are mutually reinforcing objectives. The absence of shared economic growth will Notes South Africa’s Economic Transformation: A Strategy for Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment 14 continue to generate a lower rate of growth as it will continue to restrict levels of demand in the economy, in turn reducing the multiplier effects of investment and the accelerator effects of higher levels of domestic consumption. 3.4.4.4 The deracialisation of our economy is geared towards enhancing the economic growth of the country. In accordance with this principle, BEE will be pursued in such a way as to ensure that where ownership is transferred the proceeds from the sale of assets are reinvested in the South African economy. 3.4.4.5 In order to grow our economy, more enterprises are needed to produce valueadded goods and services, to attract investment, to employ more of our people in productive activities. Thus, a core component of the BEE strategy is the creation and nurturing of new enterprises undertaking new forms of economic and value- adding activities. We seek in BEE a new vitality in our economy by facilitating new entrants to all aspects of the economy. 3.5 Policy instruments to achieve BEE 3.5.1 Government will utilise a number of policy instruments to achieve its objectives in respect of BEE. These include legislation and regulation, preferential procurement, institutional support, financial and other incentive schemes. In addition, government will seek partnerships with the private sector to accelerate the BEE process. 3.5.2 Legislation Government will introduce into Parliament a Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Bill to establish an enabling framework for the promotion of BEE in South Africa. In particular, the legislation will allow the Minister of Trade and Industry to issue guidelines and codes of good practice on BEE, as well as establish a BEE Advisory Council to advise the President on the implementation of BEE and related matters. 3.5.3 Regulation Government will utilise various regulatory means to achieve its BEE objectives. 3.5.3.1 Government will use a ‘balanced scorecard’ to measure progress made in achieving BEE by enterprises and sectors. The use of a common scorecard by different stakeholders provides a basic framework against which to benchmark the BEE process in different enterprises and sectors. The scorecard will measure three core elements of BEE: • Direct empowerment through ownership and control of enterprises and assets, • Human resource development and employment equity, • Indirect empowerment through preferential procurement and enterprise development. 3.5.3.2 The scorecard also allows government departments, state-owned enterprises, and other public agencies, to align their own procurement practices and individual BEE strategies. The scorecard also facilitates the process of setting measurable targets for BEE. 3.5.3.3 The scorecard will be issued as a Code of Good Practice in terms of the forthcoming enabling legislation. The code will allow for a measure of flexibility in order that it can be adapted to the particular circumstances of specific sectors or enterprises, while at the same time bringing a measure of standardisation to the definition and measurement of BEE.
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The poverty of understanding racism in South Africa was recently exposed by the Skielik killings. The four murders were depicted by the media as being caused by the temporary insanity of a troubled young man. The murdered victims simply disappeared into the sprawling squatter camp, as we were bombarded with psychosocial profiles of the perpetrator proving that he was the actual victim.
There were of course ritualistic sterile condemnations from our political parties. After the funerals we all went back to our lives. This lack of understanding around racism and how it can be fought and defeated is strange but understandable in this country. Strange because we remain a country the very fabric of which is deeply determined by racism. Understandable, because 1994 didn’t signify a break with the racist structures which define life; instead 1994 gave South Africa its first black president. In a sense South Africa had its Obama moment in 1994. It will give the tormented black world a nice fuzzy feeling.
The late Kwame Toure (formerly Stokely Carmichael) has argued that there are two interdependent elements to racism -- individual and institutional racism. Individual racism occurs when individual white people exercise power to discriminate or hurt black people. For example the Skielik case, where a singular white person acts out his racism. This type of racism is easy to see and condemn, but actually it’s not the real deal, despicable as it is. Individual racism survives on the back of institutional racism. Here we are talking about the totality of white power. For instance when the story of hundreds of black babies dying in Frere Hospital broke, there were no calls for the head of the minister of health; instead, that story died out very quickly. The issue here is that black suffering can’t be seen or heard, not so much by whites (that is to be expected) but more so the institutions which matter in society, our government included.
It is institutional racism which made it possible for the Skielik killer to attack black people for the second time. As a white person one takes it for granted that one could do certain things to blacks with no consequences. Blacks mostly share this belief too. See how farmers get away with murder, literally, in a black country. White superiority is a state of mind. But this state of mind is not just a figment of the imagination. It’s real.
What happened in 1994 is that black political leaders, eager to prove that blacks are human too, had to forgo any notions of justice or revenge. Justice is what humans have demanded since the beginning of time -- at times they even resort to revenge. The Nuremberg trials are one such example. But for blacks to demand justice is to ask for an impossibility. How can subhumans demand justice? Nelson Mandela had to show whites that we are human beings too and are fit to govern. They let him share the Nobel Prize with a man who represented the tormentors of blacks.
It would seem that humanness can only be conferred to blacks by the white world. This is the only way we can be human, but because we are being accepted in a human family overly determined by whiteness, we never really become human. Of course some blacks can achieve something akin to humanness through association, assimilation, money and education, and denial -- but our humanness remains skin deep. And we know it. So most of us, especially the middle classes, go into a “nervous condition”, the perpetual terror of being found out. Hence, occasionally, our politicians and intellectuals are seized by outbursts and sterile insults against the white world. This utter helplessness leads to unexplained obsession and antipathy towards whites.
The absurdity of trying to deal with racism while preserving the structures that reproduce racism was recently displayed by Jimmy Manyi, the vocal champion of transformation and racial equity in the workplace. It was a sad spectacle to see him defend the right of the bread company to take bread away from the hungry mouths of blacks. He provided a black cover for white capital’s attack on the black body. This is the end result of BEE, really, for it seeks to preserve the inherited racist patterns of production and consumption.
Understanding racism requires much more than occasional condemnations. Racism lives in the very fabric of our society. The day we think it abnormal for blacks to be sent to state hospitals to die or to be mis-educated in state schools, the day we think a squatter camp is an abomination and that an RDP house is an insult, only then shall we begin our quest towards understanding racism. To clamour to be human, when to be human is over-determined by whiteness, is to fall into a trap.
Andile Mngxitama is the national organiser of the National Land Committee
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IN FACT it will take time for the average black family to make as much as white but on thing is overlooked,the growth of the wealth has to get larger an the need for more ownership,but even if this gap closes there will still be those who were damage from the past and will never trust any system.whites are the small group and are highly educated so of course they would have %wise higher incomes than most in the country.even if most of the wealth was under control of blacks.it is not necessary for blacks has awhole to out do whites in the income department, or at least anytime soon.asians in the u.s. have higher incomes than whites in america on average but that does not mean they control the country or most of the land or businesess.
just because you control the land or most of it or most of the resoures does not mean you can't have much or most of the pie.it is other factors that come in to play.
blacks in england to better than whites and are called the asians of britian,whatever that mean.so it is not as simlple as certain folks try to make it.i guess you could anything on the computer to support your views.that is what you are about always talking and finding negative stuff.i am aware of the negative but when i post updated news for 2007 or 08 you give stuff from 2000 an earlier.i guess you do not believe in updates.i am done.bye anyway-
Key findings: P0302 - Mid-year population estimates, 2007 The mid-2007 population is estimated at approximately 47,9 million. (The census figure for October 2001 was 44,8 million.) Africans are in the majority (nearly 38,1 million) and constitute 80 percent of the total South African population.
Fifty-one per cent (approximately 24, 3 million) of the population is female. The provincial estimates show that KwaZulu-Natal has the largest share of the population (approximately 21%), followed by Gauteng (20%).
Black S. Africans Benefit From Economy
Thursday September 27, 6:15 am ET
By Celean Jacobson, Associated Press Writer Business in Soweto Booms As Black South Africans Reap the Benefits of Growing Economy /
"The Black Middle Class is a mirage,” a caller emphatically announced as I tuned into a radio talk show recently. What was being discussed was BusinessMap’s recent research report BEE 2007 - Empowerment and its Critics. The report analyses the number of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) equity deals that have taken
The Black Middle Class: fact or fiction? Friday, 11 May 2007
"The Black Middle Class is a mirage,” a caller emphatically announced as I tuned into a radio talk show recently. What was being discussed was BusinessMap’s recent research report BEE 2007 - Empowerment and its Critics. The report analyses the number of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) equity deals that have taken place over the past year. However the interview didn't really focus on this aspect, but rather around whether a significant Black Middle Class was emerging in South Africa.
As many callers phoned in to say it was a mirage, as phoned in to say it was a reality.
Clearly it would be inappropriate to use as the measure the number of BEE deals brokered, but are there other measures that give real evidence of this emerging group of people?
Let's begin by agreeing that the middle-class is generally accepted as Living Standards Measures (LSM’s) 7, 8 & 9, families that earn between R6,880 and R12,647 per month. LSM’s are researched annually by the South African Advertising Research Foundation and range from Level 1 to Level 10 with Level 1 and 2 being extreme poverty, Level 3 being poor, Level 4,5 & 6 being lower income, Level 7, 8 & 9 being middle income and Level 10 being upper income.
The chart below was produced by the South African Advertising Research Foundation and illustrates how the demographics of families residing at each level have changed between 1994 and 2006.
SA Good News"The rich have become richer and the poor, poorer,” another caller announced as I listened further on the radio talk show. But the table above tells a different story. Yes, the richer have become richer, but the poor have not become poorer. On the contrary, it is estimated that some 500,000 families have moved out of LSM’s 1, 2 & 3 in to LSM’s 4, 5 & 6 and that some 400,000 families have moved out of LSM’s 4, 5 & 6 into LSM’s 7, 8 & 9. What has happened though is that the rich have become richer faster than the poor have become less poor. This was covered recently in the Sunday Times in a report which stated that South Africa is one of the most upwardly mobile societies in the world!
Is there evidence of this? Absolutely. Car sales in South Africa have gone from 365,000 new units in 2003 to 730,000 new units sold last year (2,000 new cars on our roads each day!). What’s more, eighty percent of the buyers were black. The sale of home appliances is also exploding and our property price improvement tops the global rankings. While there is a reasonable supply of houses in the R2m plus bracket at the top end, and in the R50 000 to R400 000 bracket at the bottom end, there is a chronic shortage of mid-priced houses – further evidence of a growing middle class. Once again, most of these aspirant owners are black. There are an estimated 23 million cell phone users in the country. The tax net has grown from 2.3 million taxpayers in 1994 to nearly 7 million today, and this is expected to grow to 10,5 million by 2010. Do the maths – the numbers indicate a growing middle class!
Need further evidence? Read the article in the FM entitled Soweto rising which tells us that there has been a huge economic turnaround in Soweto, most evident in the dramatic growth in retail space. Shopping malls are popping up everywhere, with more planned. Until about five years ago, infrastructural development and private investment was considered too risky. This perception changed when studies showed that the living standards of many blacks were moving up to the “middle class level”. Various malls around Soweto are now providing shopping and entertainment previously only available in the leafy suburbs.
Our economy is now growing at around 5%, whereas our population is predicted to stabilise at between 45m and 48m people over the next 20 years. (Our population is growing at less than 1% per annum, not because of HIV/Aids - although that has an influence - but mostly because of rapid urbanisation and improved education opportunities). Our economy is growing five times faster than our population and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out what the implications are. Most economists feel that our economic prospects will remain good for the next 20 years!
Clearly we still have a massive problem in respect of poverty in South Africa with at least 20% of our population languishing in LSM levels 1,2 & 3, but 10 years ago that number was approximately 40%. I have written much about poverty previously and I certainly do not underestimate the challenge that this presents. Having said that, the fact that the government spends R80bn a year on social grants, benefiting approximately 11 million adults and children “at the bottom of the pile” (surprisingly this is not taking into account when poverty levels are measured) must be factored into the "poverty debate", and “measure” for that matter.
Is a middle-class important in our fledgling democracy? Well, what is happening in South Africa, unlike many other African countries is that economic opportunity, as opposed to political connectedness, is increasingly being realised as an opportunity for prosperity. It is often said that in developing countries, politics drives economics, whereas in developed countries, the opposite holds true. Obviously, the greater the size of the middle-class, the more this pendulum will shift in favour of the latter.
It goes without saying that middle-class people have a lifestyle they wish to protect against the uncertainties of boom/ bust economic practice, rampant inflation and deteriorating currency valuation. Hopefully they will use their vote to ensure this.
The middle-class has a vested interest in the future, the future of their children, of schooling, of health institutions, of infrastructure, of political stability and of economic well-being. This creates upward pressure on delivery; better shops, higher quality entertainment, working infrastructure, good schools, safe amenities, and professional healthcare.
THIS IS WHERE JOBS FOR THE “LOST GENERATION” ARE CREATED.
The South African economy is increasingly becoming service oriented, only 12% of GDP is contributed to by the mining sector, and 20% of GDP by manufacturing. A substantial 68% of GDP is therefore contributed to by the services sector.
What kind of people are employed there? Skilled professionals.
What group of people is unemployed in South Africa? Largely unskilled people with a poor education, the "lost generation" as they are often referred to. How will they be employed? By middle-class people who have a requirement for the services they can offer as waiters, shop assistants, domestic helpers, gardeners, cleaners, security guards etc. (These may be considered to be ordinary jobs, but they do represent the first rung on the ladder out of the poverty trap and they do give the incumbents a real chance to give their children a chance. For more on this, read Jeffrey Sachs’ book The End of Poverty.)
It is often said that for every skilled person entering the economy between four and six unskilled jobs are created. That is why the growth of a middle-class is so important.
Various estimates indicate that our economy currently has a million jobs unfilled. (Wake up Home Affairs, go away those naysayers who argue that whites can't get jobs!). Imagine if these jobs could be filled in the next five years. Imagine how that would dent unemployment!
Is there a growing middle-class? Absolutely.
Is it the solution to poverty and unemployment? Only partially.
Is it good for our country? Fundamentally.
Will it continue to grow? Sure, provided we can produce the skills and maintain economic growth levels and between
between 4% and 6%.
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SA's big spenders drive economic growth
Wednesday, 07 November 2007 Over the past seven years South Africa’s black population has steadily risen in high income earning brackets and has also become South Africa’s biggest spenders, aMarket Research (BMR).according to the University of South Africa’s Bureau of The BMR’s integrated model of the South African population, labour market and income and expenditure revealed that the white population still remains the wealthiest in the country. But the survey also shows some parity between black and white income earners particularly in the R100K – R300K bracket. Blacks account for 1.4 million of this group and whites, 1.3 million. Project Leader Professor Carl van Aardt highlights this as an indication of dramatic economic growth in the black population. The report also shows that the black population leads the pack in household expenditure, spending R550
billion this year, followed by whites whose expenditure amounted to R506 billion Van Aardt believes that the BMR’s investigation into income and expenditure is a more realistic assessment of the affluence of South African consumers, the sophistication of the markets and a more comprehensive estimate of the actual size of the country’s GDP and thus allowing for more accurate future projections. We can expect South Africa’s current growth rate at 4.5% to sustain itself over the medium term due to the fact for more accurate future projections.
“We can expect South Africa’s current growth rate at 4.5% to sustain itself over the medium term due to the fact South Africa is a consumption driven economy and black consumers will keep growing,” says van Aardt. Medium to long term growth will be driven by government capital expenditure as we progress towards the 2010 World Cup, explains van Aardt. Van Aardt confidently states that South Africa is not headed in the direction of Zimbabwe. “The Zimbabwean economy is dependant on basic commodities, agriculture and mining while the South African economy is very diversified. Even if one sector took a knock there would be other factors in place to hold our economy together.” Though we face positive prospects, van Aardt warns that some of South Africa’s biggest problems could threaten economic growth. Both foreign portfolio and direct investment are vulnerable to crime. A loss in these
foreign investments could see South Africa experience a big “economic hiccup”. The Human Sciences Research Council’s HIV Prevalence Report (2002 and 2005) showed that infections are on the rise amongst the affluent and skilled. This is a major threat to the economy.
Though the number of historically disadvantaged South Africans moving into higher earning brackets is on the increase, “the number of people in poverty has stagnated. We have people trapped in poverty,” says Van Aardt. He attributes this to the skills shortage in South Africa and the mismatch between skills available and skills required.
SA among world’s freer economies
Wednesday, 05 March 2008 Economic freedom in South Africa is considered to be higher than that of the world average, according to
Heritage Foundation’s 2008 Index of Economic Freedom. With a score of 63.2%, South Africa’s levels of economic freedom are above the world average of 60.3%. South Africa earned a global ranking of 57, making it the fourth freest economy of the 40 African countries that were surveyed. The Africa rankings were topped by Mauritius (18), Botswana (36) and Uganda (52). South Africa ranked higher than emerging market competitors Brazil (101), India (115), China (126) and Russia 134).
Blacks flourishing SOWETO, South Africa - Black South Africans are reaping the benefits of a growing economy, and at the heart of it is Soweto, where Nelson Mandela presided over the gala opening of a multimillion-dollar mall yesterday. The sprawling township that was the center of the anti-apartheid struggle is being transformed, with new houses, new parks and paved roads.
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As South Africa begins its second decade after apartheid's dismantlement in 1994, the ruling Marxist African National Congress has rapidly escalated what some call "the Zimbabwe paradigm" – moving to more aggressively seize its white citizens' farms, possessions and futures. South African President Thabo Mbeki, a devout Marxist, has been a strong supporter of Zimbabwe despite dictator Robert Mugabe's disastrous policies in the former Rhodesia, once known as the breadbasket of southern Africa. Now it appears Zimbabwe's problems have been projected onto South Africa. Almost 1,700 white South African farmers have been murdered since 1994, with another 15,000 recorded attacks. White children, babies and the elderly have been raped and mutilated in these crimes, which often are carried out with archetype military precision and the use of snipers. President Bush visited South Africa during his first term in office and promised to look into the plight of South Africa's white farmers. This after being given a video presentation by Dr. Pieter Mulder of the Freedom Front Plus Party. Thus far, the president has publicly said nothing about the plight of the white Afrikaner farmers and has made Mbeki his "point man" on the Zimbabwe issue. While Bush did sign a presidential directive calling for action against Mugabe, American and British influence on the situation appears negligible. The opposition
MDC in Zimbabwe is still cowed into submission while massive socialist and quasi-Maoist agrarian and land reform schemes continue to plunge "Zim" into despair. Farmers claim they are charging market-related prices for their land, but the ANC has set far different values on the same land. As such, the ANC blames the farmers for slowing down their land reform project. The ANC owns lots of land in South Africa. The problem is the ANC officially doesn't know how much land it owns. What is known is that the ANC government could invoke the Restitution of Land Rights Amendment Act. This Act was passed in 2003 and clearly authorizes the ANC to expropriate land. ANC-owned land most likely stands at 19.8 percent of the total surface area of South Africa. Between 5 and 10 percent of that land could be redistributed today if need be. The ANC
wants to have 30 percent of all commercial farmland under black ownership by 2014. As of December 2004, 3 percent of commercial farmland had been redistributed. Adding to the
difficulty is the fact that farming, including genetically modified farming, has become an increasingly high-tech venture, calling for a high degree of intelligence, training and dedication. It is one thing to hand over the land. It is another thing to keep that land fruitful and feed the masses. Many white South Africans have fled the rape, crime, murder, HIV and all-around social disintegration of this once wealthy, anti-communist nation. Destinations like the U.S., UK,
Canada, Australia and New Zealand are now home to the de facto Afrikaner and South African Diaspora. Like the Hmong, Karen, Montagnards, South Sudanese and Kurds, the
Afrikaners will continue to exist as a people but not as a nation. Because of their Calvinist background and racial and cultural solidarity, white South Africans, especially the Afrikaners, are ill-prepared for the realities of living in post-Christian and post-modern Western Civilization, where someone like Paris Hilton is not only tolerated but celebrated.
According to groups like Genocide Watch, however, what is going on in South Africa's killing fields is not justice, but genocide. There are only about 40,000 white farmers in South my comment-now 4% of land has been giving to the blacks and the anc is not marxist. another point thsi racist got wrong on-south africa has more wealth today and gnp ppp is higher than ever,but this racist doe not want to give blacks credit for sound economic policies
and growth.south africa is infact more advanced and more modern under black rule. crime is going down too,but racist like this does not like to admit this. TRAINING IS being done for when the time comes to take over more land,and there are plenty of highly intelligent blacks in south africa.money is coming in for hiv and the state is doing it's part now.aids is stablizing,so that is good news but still have away too go.
South African Blacks to get Land Stolen during Apartheid By Special to the NNPA from IPS/GIN May 5, 2004 quote-
Thousands of Black South Africans will soon be able to buy back land taken from them during the apartheid era. Landless Blacks are allowed to claim White-owned farmland. If White farmers refuse to sell, a new law lets the government step in and forcibly buy the land at market price. So far, about 20 percent of the land has been claimed. In some regions, such as Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal, the figure is close to 50 percent. So far 45,000 of the total 70,000 claims have been settled. The government aims to settle the rest by 2005. The enforced selling law is only expected to be used in about 5 to 10 percent of claims, chief land claims commissioner Tozi Gwanya told Reuters. And in Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe faced international criticism for allowing Blacks to occupy and take White-owned farms. A number of White farmers were killed in the
well to sum it up there are negatives and postives,it's a mixed bag and i hope we could all agree with that.but overall there are postives and the main point of the post is that
obama will be not that much better for africa than any other u.s. leader. africans are not looking for a hand as whole,some are but not most just like any other group.
That's it i am tried and i been up all night and i have work to do.I AM FINISH HERE AND I WILL NOT BE COMING BACK TO THIS POST.IT'S BETTER FACE TO FACE TO TALK TO SOMEONE ABOUT THIS THAN TO CHAT ON THE COMPUTER,BCAUSE MISUNDERSTANDINGS COULD COME UP. I TRY TO RELY ON CREDITABLE SOURCES FOR MY INFO ANYWAY AND IT WILL BE A BAD IDEA TO ALWAYS READ JUST PEOPLE COMMENTS BECAUSE FOLKS COULD SAY ANYTHING .REALLY BYE BYE.
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quote:Originally posted by kenndo: SO BLACKS WERE BETTER OFF WHEN WHITES CONTROL SOUTH AFRICA IS THAT WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO SAY.I SEE SOME SEWLF HATRED ON YOUR PART DOUG.
THINGS ARE WAAAAY MUCH BETTER FOR BLACKS IN SOUTH AFRICA TODAY THAN THEY WERE IN 1980,1990 AND 1993.THAT IS SOME STROMFRONT CRAP YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT.YOU DO NOT SEE PROGRESS IN ANYTHING AND I AGREE WITH YONIS AND Sundiata UP TO A POINT ON THIS. YOU ARE HELPLESS. HERE IS A BASIC DETAIL PLAN OF THE OWNERSHIP AND OTHER THINGS.IT'S ALOT SO TAKE YOUR TIME AND READ. THERE WASA LOT MORE BUT IT WAS TOO MUCH AND I SPENT TO MUCH TIME ALREADY FINDIG THIS INFO AND COPYING IT.SO LET THIS INFO SINK IN ABOUT THE PLAN.AFTER READING THIS YOU SHOULD GET A MORE CLEAR IDEA.IF YOU DO NOT GET IT.TOO BAD.THERE IS NOTHING I COULD SAY I DO FOR YOU.I AM LEAVING BECAUSE I KEPT HAVING TO FIND INFO LIKE THIS ON THIS FORUM AND CERIAN FOLKS JUST DO NOT WANT TO LISTEN .SO AFTER THIS JUST LEAVE ME ALONE.BYE.
THAT IS 2001 CENSUS,SINCE THEN BLACKS GREW IN NUMBERS. THE LAST TIME I CHECK THERE WERE 40% OF BLACKS IN SOUTH AFRICA WHO WERE POOR. I DID NOT READ ALL THAT BY THE WAY BECAUSE THE MINUTE YOU PUT UP A 2001 CENSUS,I KNEW YOU WAS TELLING OUTDATED INFO.RECENT STUDIES SAY MORE BLACKS ARE GOING INTO THE MIDDLECLASS MORE AND MORE.BY THE WAY WHO GOIN TO CALL A BLACK PERSON IN THE CONGO OR GABON A NIGGER.THEY WILL GET THIER HEADS BASHE IN.YOU ARE BRINGING AMERICAN PROBLEMS TO AFRICA.AFRICANS IN THEIR COUNTRIES ARE THE ELITE,NOT WHITES.IN RAW NUMBERS THEIR ARE MORE BLACKS IN THE MIDDLE CLASS AND ARE RICH THAN WHITE SOUTH AFRICANS.
HERE IS A CLEARER PLAN.
INTRODUCTION - THE TRANSFORMATION IMPERATIVE
1.1 Our country requires an economy that can meet the needs of all our economic
citizens – our people and their enterprises – in a sustainable manner. This
will only be possible if our economy builds on the full potential of all persons
and communities across the length and breadth of this country. Government’s
objective is to achieve this vision of an adaptive economy characterised by
growth, employment and equity by 2014.
It is crucial to understand the magnitude of what took place in our past in order to understand why we need to act together as a nation to bring about an economic transformation in the interest
of all.
c 1.3 The vision of an economy that meets the needs of the people in a more equitable manner goes back to the Freedom Charter of 1955. This was refined and developed in the contemporary context in the Reconstruction and Development Programme (1994). The need to effect redress in the interests of equity is also embodied in our Constitution. Subsequently, government has outlined broad economic strategies to transform the economy by 2014. These strategies include the Microeconomic Reform Strategy and a range of specific strategies such as the Integrated Manufacturing Strategy and the National Research and Development Strategy.
1.4 The period since 1994 has seen the South African economy undergo profound
restructuring. Ten years of consistent economic growth has been recorded.
Macroeconomic stabilisation has largely been achieved, providing a platform for accelerating the growth rate. The economy has become increasingly integrated
into global markets and has become a successful exporter of manufactured
goods and value-added services. South Africa is now able to position itself as an advanced manufacturing economy.
an economic transformation strategy must form part of government’s strategic
approach to globalisation to ensure that we benefit from these processes and
not suffer deleterious effects. More than just an economic imperative, the
deracialisation and engendering of our economy is a moral requirement in
keeping with the values and principles of equity enshrined in our Constitution.
1.8 Progress has been recorded in undoing the legacy of the past, however, the
extent to which this economic success has been shared by all of our people is still inadequate for the requirements of a stable and prosperous society. The time is right for the introduction of a comprehensive and focused strategy for broadbased
black economic empowerment.
1.9 Black economic empowerment is already an unfolding process in our economy, however, this document outlines the more comprehensive and focused strategy
that is now needed and adds impetus to the process by providing greater clarity
and certainty. The document begins with an analysis of the legacy of dispossession
and disempowerment that characterised our economic development until 1994.
It is essential that we understand this in order to comprehend actions which are
needed for success. The steps taken to overcome this legacy are examined and
lessons from this experience are extracted.
Notes South Africa’s Economic Transformation: A Strategy for Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment 12 A STRATEGY FOR BROAD-BASED BLACK ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT 3.1 Introduction 3.1.1 In the previous chapter it had been established that South Africa needs a focused BEE strategy to achieve the broad-based economic empowerment of black persons - a generic term, which means indigenous Africans, Coloureds and Indians - in our country. This will facilitate growth, development and stability in our economy. This chapter sets out the core components of such a strategy in order to provide greater clarity and a measure of certainty to the process of BEE which is currently unfolding. 3.1.2 This chapter will outline government’s approach to the definition and measurement of BEE as well as the policy instruments that will be utilised to achieve our objectives. The strategy also emphasises the importance of a partnership approach to achieving BEE and as such the document specifically addresses the question of sector charters and partnerships. The financing of BEE is also discussed and the financial instruments are spelt out in the attached appendices. 3.2 Defining Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment 3.2.1 The challenge in defining black economic empowerment is to find the appropriate balance between a very broad definition and an overly narrow one. To define BEE too broadly equates BEE with economic development and transformation in general. The strategy is then commensurate with the totality of government’s programme of reconstruction and development. To define BEE too narrowly limits it to a set of transactions transferring corporate assets from white to black ownership. 3.2.2 Accordingly, government defines BEE as an integrated and coherent socioeconomic process that directly contributes to the economic transformation of South Africa and brings about significant increases in the numbers of black people that manage, own and control the country’s economy, as well as significant decreases in income inequalities. 3.2.3 Thus BEE process will include elements of human resource development, employment equity, enterprise development, preferential procurement, as well as investment, ownership and control of enterprises and economic assets. 3.3 Policy objectives of BEE The successful implementation of the BEE strategy will be evaluated against the following policy objectives: • A substantial increase in the number of black people who have ownership and control of existing and new enterprises, • A substantial increase in the number of black people who have ownership and control of existing and new enterprises in the priority sectors of the economy that government has identified in its microeconomic reform strategy2 , • A significant increase in the number of new black enterprises, black-empowered enterprises and black-engendered enterprises, • A significant increase in number of black people in executive and senior management of enterprises, 2 These sectors include agriculture and agro-processing, mining, minerals and metals beneficiation, clothing and textiles, automobiles and components, aerospace, information and communication technology sector, chemicals, cultural industries including media, film, music and crafts, as well as high value-added services.
Notes 13 • An increasing proportion of the ownership and management of economic activities vested in community and broad-based enterprises (such as trade unions, employee trusts, and other collective enterprises) and co-operatives • Increased ownership of land and other productive assets, improved access to infrastructure, increased acquisition of skills, and increased participation in productive economic activities in under-developed areas including the 13 nodal areas identified in the Urban Renewal Programme and the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programme, • Accelerated and shared economic growth, • Increased income levels of black persons and a reduction of income inequalities between and within race groups. 3.4 Key principles The strategy is underpinned by four key principles. 3.4.1 Black Economic Empowerment is broad-based. Societies that are characterised by racial or ethnically defined wealth disparities are not likely to be socially and politically stable. The process of BEE seeks to accelerate the deracialisation of the South African economy and fast track the re-entry of historically marginalised communities into the mainstream of the economy. 3.4.2 Black Economic Empowerment is an inclusive process. A more equitable economy will benefit all South Africans, individuals and enterprises. The process of BEE is an inclusive one, and all enterprises operating within South Africa can, and indeed should, participate in this process. This strategy will be implemented throughout all sectors of the economy and is not limited only to those enterprises that derive income from government procurement or those where the sector is regulated by government. 3.4.3 Black Economic Empowerment is associated with good governance. A fundamental part of our economic reform and transformation is improving the quality and transparency of all economic activity. Accordingly, BEE must be associated with and ensure the highest standards of corporate governance. Concerted efforts will be made to ensure that the quality of corporate boards and governance is improved. 3.4.4 Black Economic Empowerment is part of our growth strategy. 3.4.4.1 Economic growth, development and BEE are complementary and related processes. Government’s approach is that BEE must be an inclusive process and not an exclusive process. No economy can grow by excluding any part of its people and an economy that is not growing cannot integrate all of its citizens in a meaningful way. As such this strategy stresses a BEE process that is associated with growth, development and enterprise development, and not merely the redistribution of existing wealth. 3.4.4.2 New, inclusive patterns of wealth accumulation must come from both existing economic activity and new economic activity. Thus we need higher levels of investment that generates a substantial amount of new economic activities. At the same time, ownership patterns must change. 3.4.4.3 An effective and successful process of BEE and accelerated economic growth are mutually reinforcing objectives. The absence of shared economic growth will Notes South Africa’s Economic Transformation: A Strategy for Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment 14 continue to generate a lower rate of growth as it will continue to restrict levels of demand in the economy, in turn reducing the multiplier effects of investment and the accelerator effects of higher levels of domestic consumption. 3.4.4.4 The deracialisation of our economy is geared towards enhancing the economic growth of the country. In accordance with this principle, BEE will be pursued in such a way as to ensure that where ownership is transferred the proceeds from the sale of assets are reinvested in the South African economy. 3.4.4.5 In order to grow our economy, more enterprises are needed to produce valueadded goods and services, to attract investment, to employ more of our people in productive activities. Thus, a core component of the BEE strategy is the creation and nurturing of new enterprises undertaking new forms of economic and value- adding activities. We seek in BEE a new vitality in our economy by facilitating new entrants to all aspects of the economy. 3.5 Policy instruments to achieve BEE 3.5.1 Government will utilise a number of policy instruments to achieve its objectives in respect of BEE. These include legislation and regulation, preferential procurement, institutional support, financial and other incentive schemes. In addition, government will seek partnerships with the private sector to accelerate the BEE process. 3.5.2 Legislation Government will introduce into Parliament a Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Bill to establish an enabling framework for the promotion of BEE in South Africa. In particular, the legislation will allow the Minister of Trade and Industry to issue guidelines and codes of good practice on BEE, as well as establish a BEE Advisory Council to advise the President on the implementation of BEE and related matters. 3.5.3 Regulation Government will utilise various regulatory means to achieve its BEE objectives. 3.5.3.1 Government will use a ‘balanced scorecard’ to measure progress made in achieving BEE by enterprises and sectors. The use of a common scorecard by different stakeholders provides a basic framework against which to benchmark the BEE process in different enterprises and sectors. The scorecard will measure three core elements of BEE: • Direct empowerment through ownership and control of enterprises and assets, • Human resource development and employment equity, • Indirect empowerment through preferential procurement and enterprise development. 3.5.3.2 The scorecard also allows government departments, state-owned enterprises, and other public agencies, to align their own procurement practices and individual BEE strategies. The scorecard also facilitates the process of setting measurable targets for BEE. 3.5.3.3 The scorecard will be issued as a Code of Good Practice in terms of the forthcoming enabling legislation. The code will allow for a measure of flexibility in order that it can be adapted to the particular circumstances of specific sectors or enterprises, while at the same time bringing a measure of standardisation to the definition and measurement of BEE.
NO Kenndo, what I said was and what I continue to say is that the statistics that you keep producing say NOTHING about how the MAJORITY of blacks are better off in South Africa than during apartheid. Economic growth in South Africa does NOT mean that MOST blacks in South Africa are better off. THEY AREN'T. A few blacks getting better paying jobs in South Africa does not mean blacks are BETTER OFF.
You love to post generic studies that don't have any information SPECIFIC to the status of blacks in South Africa, yet when I show you the statistics you get upset. The fact is you are in DENIAL because you WANT to believe that things are getting better, but by ANY MEASURE they aren't.
quote: Blacks are getting poorer in South Africa while whites are getting richer, a new survey has found.
Incomes in South African black households fell by 19% between 1995 and 2000, while white household incomes rose by 15%, according to the development research body id21.
Last year, two out of three black households in Cape Town townships did not have enough food to eat.
"On a psychological identity level, political liberation did mean a lot," the report's co-author Cobus de Swardt told BBC News Online.
The bottom two-thirds of black people in South Africa have seen a substantial decline in their incomes as linked to inflation Cobus de Swardt "But poor black people are still isolated from the dynamic economic centres."
The research, carried out by the University of Western Cape, surveyed black townships around Cape Town, where it found 76% of households living below the poverty line of R352 ($42) per month.
Over half of these households had no waged income, and almost one third reported that the main breadwinner had lost a job in the previous year.
How on earth is the 2001 census from SA outdated? That was the LAST official census. In other words, YOU don't care about addressing those statistics that SPECIFICALLY address blacks and their economic well being, versus statistics that lump blacks and whites together, as if they are all EQUALLY sharing in the benefits of South Africa's economic growth, when you know darn well that they aren't.
As I said, things are getting better for SOME blacks in South Africa, but that does not mean that this is the case for MOST black South Africans. Focusing on the trophy babies that they hold up as examples of progress for blacks is how you get the Condoleeza Rices and Colin Powells of the world, which are absolutely meaningless symbols of black progress.
Here is a report from 2006 that states emphatically, that the gap between rich and poor in South Africa is growing and that blacks are getting WORSE off at the lowest scale of the ladder than ever before. Sure, SOME blacks are moving into the so-called middle class, but middle class of WHAT? They don't OWN anything, they aren't CREATING jobs, so what do they represent other than a buffer between the RICH at the top who are getting MUCH RICHER according to this report, and the blacks at the bottom who are getting POORER at the very bottom.
And what I am saying is that ALL OF THIS reflects what happens when you let those who have been BUILDING WEALTH through the support of a RACIST WELFARE STATE for whites continue UNHINDERED with the plans for economic dominance that their forefathers, like Cecil Rhodes have been putting into place for the last few hundred years in Africa. OF COURSE it makes sense. But some blacks believe that the situation has changed in some way. It hasn't. South Africa is STILL a system designed and built to promote and protect the INTERESTS, WEALTH and WELL BEING of whites at the expense of blacks through programs of welfare for whites that takes MOST of the wealth in South Africa in terms of land, labor and resources and PUTS IT TO USE improving the LIVES and WELL BEING of whites (especially those at the very top). Until South Africa or any other African country, becomes a system of welfare designed to promote and protect the LIVES AND WELL BEING OF BLACKS, NOTHING will change and no amount of B.S. statistics will change that fact.
quote: However, the SAIRR Survey 2002/03, published in 2004, suggests that income accruing to the upper middle strata is increasing, while the share of that of the lower middle strata is decreasing. Hence, average annual income of heads of households from managerial, professional, technical and administrative grades increased from R116 000 per year to R150 000 (29,3%) between 1995 and 2000 (at year 2000 market prices), while decreasing from R79 000 to R59 000 for those from clerical and sales grades. The recent study of 750 black professionals aged 21 – 39 years in the LSM7 by the School of Management Studies of the University of Cape Town suggests that black South Africans are the future engine/stimulus of the growth of the economy.
quote: JOHANNESBURG, Oct 16 (IPS) - Twelve years after the demise of apartheid, poverty remains one of the main challenges facing South Africa -- although opinions vary about how widespread it is.
"Poverty has increased in all the racial groups. A lot of people in each of these racial groups experience the same problems," Hassen Lorgat, in charge of campaigns and communications at the South African National NGO Coalition (SANGOCO), told IPS. This body is headquartered in the financial hub of Johannesburg.
Greg Ruiters of the Institute for Social and Economic Research at Rhodes University, in the Eastern Cape province, has a slightly different view.
"Absolute poverty is not as bad as it used to be under apartheid," he said in an interview with IPS. But,"Relative poverty between the rich and poor is increasing. This is worrying."
The Congress of South African Trade Unions links poverty to joblessness.
"Unemployment, whether you take the strict figure of 27 percent which excludes those too discouraged to look for work, or the more realistic expanded definition of 41 percent, is still far too high," Bheki Ntshalintshali, deputy general secretary of the organisation, told the South African Municipal Workers Union in the coastal city of Port Elizabeth this August.
"Too many of our families and communities suffer the misery of grinding poverty simply because there are no jobs to bring in money to put food on the table."
Poverty levels also result from the lingering effects of institutionalised segregation, which locked black South Africans out of the economy to a large degree.
"I don't think the situation has changed," Cathy Gush, director of the Centre for Social Development at Rhodes University, told IPS. "From experience in the communities we work in, the situation hasn't improved."
A discussion document, the 'Macro-Social Report', published by government in June, also highlights the challenges that lie ahead in helping majority blacks to escape poverty.
"While there has been a significant and rapid advance of Africans into and within the middle strata, the reality is that the population belonging to the strata among Africans is 7.8 percent, while it is 15.6 percent for coloureds (mixed race), 20.7 percent for Indians and 33 percent for whites," the report notes.
Blacks make up 78 percent of South Africa's population of 46.9 million people, whites 9.6 percent, coloureds 8.9 percent and Indians 2.5 percent, according to official statistics.
The factors underpinning poverty in South Africa and other parts of the world will come under the spotlight Tuesday, during the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
You can try and deny reality all you want and stick to those rosy colored pictures that white media keeps feeding you. The unemployment rate for blacks in South Africa is over 40%. So how on EARTH are they benefiting from ANY sort of economic gains? And this figure is purposely hidden on the statistical reports because they leave out the 15% or so of those black South Africans who have given UP on looking for work. The point being that because MOST black South Africans don't even graduate from HIGH SCHOOL, there is NO WAY that they can hope to move UP the ladder economically, NOT UNLESS the State of South Africa actually becomes SERIOUS about implementing a REAL system for redressing economic and social legacies of the racist welfare system whites created for themselves in South Africa over the last 200 years.
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The mid-2007 population is estimated at approximately 47,9 million. (The census figure for October 2001 was 44,8 million.) Africans are in the majority (nearly 38,1 million) and constitute 80 percent of the total South African population. Fifty-one per cent (approximately 24, 3 million) of the population is female. The provincial estimates show that KwaZulu-Natal has the largest share of the population (approximately 21%), followed by Gauteng (20%).
you could always find someone who says nothing has change.whites say that too in america and they have nothing to complain baout really except they power in the world going down.
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quote:Originally posted by kenndo: The mid-2007 population is estimated at approximately 47,9 million. (The census figure for October 2001 was 44,8 million.) Africans are in the majority (nearly 38,1 million) and constitute 80 percent of the total South African population. Fifty-one per cent (approximately 24, 3 million) of the population is female. The provincial estimates show that KwaZulu-Natal has the largest share of the population (approximately 21%), followed by Gauteng (20%).
you could always find someone who says nothing has change.whites say that too in america and they have nothing to complain baout really except they power in the world going down.
So what? What does that say about the KEY STATISTICS concerning the WEALTH and WELL BEING of MOST BLACKS in South Africa and not just the ability of SOME blacks to by cars?
NOTHING.
I agree that things are changing. However, I don't agree that these changes represent REAL PROGRESS for blacks in South Africa. A few more black middle managers in some WHITE OWNED companies does not mean SQUAT when MOST blacks don't even have the education to GET GOOD JOBS and 40% of blacks are unemployed.
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But the table above tells a different story. Yes, the richer have become richer, but the poor have not become poorer.
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quote:Originally posted by kenndo: IN FACT it will take time for the average black family to make as much as white but on thing is overlooked,the growth of the wealth has to get larger an the need for more ownership,but even if this gap closes there will still be those who were damage from the past and will never trust any system.whites are the small group and are highly educated so of course they would have %wise higher incomes than most in the country.even if most of the wealth was under control of blacks.it is not necessary for blacks has awhole to out do whites in the income department, or at least anytime soon.asians in the u.s. have higher incomes than whites in america on average but that does not mean they control the country or most of the land or businesess.
just because you control the land or most of it or most of the resoures does not mean you can't have much or most of the pie.it is other factors that come in to play.
blacks in england to better than whites and are called the asians of britian,whatever that mean.so it is not as simlple as certain folks try to make it.i guess you could anything on the computer to support your views.that is what you are about always talking and finding negative stuff.i am aware of the negative but when i post updated news for 2007 or 08 you give stuff from 2000 an earlier.i guess you do not believe in updates.i guess that's your job. black bussinese are being craeted and blacks are being push in to white owned companies more and more so you get enough in so they could take over in time but you want it the quick way and to mess up the master plan.you have to think ahead.and alot id happening and many are Benefiting that is the point i disagree with you on and you are stuck on this,no no they are not.well they are and they will do fine with out you.i am done.bye anyway-
Key findings: P0302 - Mid-year population estimates, 2007 The mid-2007 population is estimated at approximately 47,9 million. (The census figure for October 2001 was 44,8 million.) Africans are in the majority (nearly 38,1 million) and constitute 80 percent of the total South African population.
Fifty-one per cent (approximately 24, 3 million) of the population is female. The provincial estimates show that KwaZulu-Natal has the largest share of the population (approximately 21%), followed by Gauteng (20%).
Black S. Africans Benefit From Economy
Thursday September 27, 6:15 am ET
By Celean Jacobson, Associated Press Writer Business in Soweto Booms As Black South Africans Reap the Benefits of Growing Economy /
"The Black Middle Class is a mirage,” a caller emphatically announced as I tuned into a radio talk show recently. What was being discussed was BusinessMap’s recent research report BEE 2007 - Empowerment and its Critics. The report analyses the number of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) equity deals that have taken
The Black Middle Class: fact or fiction? Friday, 11 May 2007
"The Black Middle Class is a mirage,” a caller emphatically announced as I tuned into a radio talk show recently. What was being discussed was BusinessMap’s recent research report BEE 2007 - Empowerment and its Critics. The report analyses the number of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) equity deals that have taken place over the past year. However the interview didn't really focus on this aspect, but rather around whether a significant Black Middle Class was emerging in South Africa.
As many callers phoned in to say it was a mirage, as phoned in to say it was a reality.
Clearly it would be inappropriate to use as the measure the number of BEE deals brokered, but are there other measures that give real evidence of this emerging group of people?
Let's begin by agreeing that the middle-class is generally accepted as Living Standards Measures (LSM’s) 7, 8 & 9, families that earn between R6,880 and R12,647 per month. LSM’s are researched annually by the South African Advertising Research Foundation and range from Level 1 to Level 10 with Level 1 and 2 being extreme poverty, Level 3 being poor, Level 4,5 & 6 being lower income, Level 7, 8 & 9 being middle income and Level 10 being upper income.
The chart below was produced by the South African Advertising Research Foundation and illustrates how the demographics of families residing at each level have changed between 1994 and 2006.
SA Good News"The rich have become richer and the poor, poorer,” another caller announced as I listened further on the radio talk show. But the table above tells a different story. Yes, the richer have become richer, but the poor have not become poorer. On the contrary, it is estimated that some 500,000 families have moved out of LSM’s 1, 2 & 3 in to LSM’s 4, 5 & 6 and that some 400,000 families have moved out of LSM’s 4, 5 & 6 into LSM’s 7, 8 & 9. What has happened though is that the rich have become richer faster than the poor have become less poor. This was covered recently in the Sunday Times in a report which stated that South Africa is one of the most upwardly mobile societies in the world!
Is there evidence of this? Absolutely. Car sales in South Africa have gone from 365,000 new units in 2003 to 730,000 new units sold last year (2,000 new cars on our roads each day!). What’s more, eighty percent of the buyers were black. The sale of home appliances is also exploding and our property price improvement tops the global rankings. While there is a reasonable supply of houses in the R2m plus bracket at the top end, and in the R50 000 to R400 000 bracket at the bottom end, there is a chronic shortage of mid-priced houses – further evidence of a growing middle class. Once again, most of these aspirant owners are black. There are an estimated 23 million cell phone users in the country. The tax net has grown from 2.3 million taxpayers in 1994 to nearly 7 million today, and this is expected to grow to 10,5 million by 2010. Do the maths – the numbers indicate a growing middle class!
Need further evidence? Read the article in the FM entitled Soweto rising which tells us that there has been a huge economic turnaround in Soweto, most evident in the dramatic growth in retail space. Shopping malls are popping up everywhere, with more planned. Until about five years ago, infrastructural development and private investment was considered too risky. This perception changed when studies showed that the living standards of many blacks were moving up to the “middle class level”. Various malls around Soweto are now providing shopping and entertainment previously only available in the leafy suburbs.
Our economy is now growing at around 5%, whereas our population is predicted to stabilise at between 45m and 48m people over the next 20 years. (Our population is growing at less than 1% per annum, not because of HIV/Aids - although that has an influence - but mostly because of rapid urbanisation and improved education opportunities). Our economy is growing five times faster than our population and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out what the implications are. Most economists feel that our economic prospects will remain good for the next 20 years!
Clearly we still have a massive problem in respect of poverty in South Africa with at least 20% of our population languishing in LSM levels 1,2 & 3, but 10 years ago that number was approximately 40%. I have written much about poverty previously and I certainly do not underestimate the challenge that this presents. Having said that, the fact that the government spends R80bn a year on social grants, benefiting approximately 11 million adults and children “at the bottom of the pile” (surprisingly this is not taking into account when poverty levels are measured) must be factored into the "poverty debate", and “measure” for that matter.
Is a middle-class important in our fledgling democracy? Well, what is happening in South Africa, unlike many other African countries is that economic opportunity, as opposed to political connectedness, is increasingly being realised as an opportunity for prosperity. It is often said that in developing countries, politics drives economics, whereas in developed countries, the opposite holds true. Obviously, the greater the size of the middle-class, the more this pendulum will shift in favour of the latter.
It goes without saying that middle-class people have a lifestyle they wish to protect against the uncertainties of boom/ bust economic practice, rampant inflation and deteriorating currency valuation. Hopefully they will use their vote to ensure this.
The middle-class has a vested interest in the future, the future of their children, of schooling, of health institutions, of infrastructure, of political stability and of economic well-being. This creates upward pressure on delivery; better shops, higher quality entertainment, working infrastructure, good schools, safe amenities, and professional healthcare.
THIS IS WHERE JOBS FOR THE “LOST GENERATION” ARE CREATED.
The South African economy is increasingly becoming service oriented, only 12% of GDP is contributed to by the mining sector, and 20% of GDP by manufacturing. A substantial 68% of GDP is therefore contributed to by the services sector.
What kind of people are employed there? Skilled professionals.
What group of people is unemployed in South Africa? Largely unskilled people with a poor education, the "lost generation" as they are often referred to. How will they be employed? By middle-class people who have a requirement for the services they can offer as waiters, shop assistants, domestic helpers, gardeners, cleaners, security guards etc. (These may be considered to be ordinary jobs, but they do represent the first rung on the ladder out of the poverty trap and they do give the incumbents a real chance to give their children a chance. For more on this, read Jeffrey Sachs’ book The End of Poverty.)
It is often said that for every skilled person entering the economy between four and six unskilled jobs are created. That is why the growth of a middle-class is so important.
Various estimates indicate that our economy currently has a million jobs unfilled. (Wake up Home Affairs, go away those naysayers who argue that whites can't get jobs!). Imagine if these jobs could be filled in the next five years. Imagine how that would dent unemployment!
Is there a growing middle-class? Absolutely.
Is it the solution to poverty and unemployment? Only partially.
Is it good for our country? Fundamentally.
Will it continue to grow? Sure, provided we can produce the skills and maintain economic growth levels and between
between 4% and 6%.
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SA's big spenders drive economic growth
Wednesday, 07 November 2007 Over the past seven years South Africa’s black population has steadily risen in high income earning brackets and has also become South Africa’s biggest spenders, aMarket Research (BMR).according to the University of South Africa’s Bureau of The BMR’s integrated model of the South African population, labour market and income and expenditure revealed that the white population still remains the wealthiest in the country. But the survey also shows some parity between black and white income earners particularly in the R100K – R300K bracket. Blacks account for 1.4 million of this group and whites, 1.3 million. Project Leader Professor Carl van Aardt highlights this as an indication of dramatic economic growth in the black population. The report also shows that the black population leads the pack in household expenditure, spending R550
billion this year, followed by whites whose expenditure amounted to R506 billion Van Aardt believes that the BMR’s investigation into income and expenditure is a more realistic assessment of the affluence of South African consumers, the sophistication of the markets and a more comprehensive estimate of the actual size of the country’s GDP and thus allowing for more accurate future projections. We can expect South Africa’s current growth rate at 4.5% to sustain itself over the medium term due to the fact for more accurate future projections.
“We can expect South Africa’s current growth rate at 4.5% to sustain itself over the medium term due to the fact South Africa is a consumption driven economy and black consumers will keep growing,” says van Aardt. Medium to long term growth will be driven by government capital expenditure as we progress towards the 2010 World Cup, explains van Aardt. Van Aardt confidently states that South Africa is not headed in the direction of Zimbabwe. “The Zimbabwean economy is dependant on basic commodities, agriculture and mining while the South African economy is very diversified. Even if one sector took a knock there would be other factors in place to hold our economy together.” Though we face positive prospects, van Aardt warns that some of South Africa’s biggest problems could threaten economic growth. Both foreign portfolio and direct investment are vulnerable to crime. A loss in these
foreign investments could see South Africa experience a big “economic hiccup”. The Human Sciences Research Council’s HIV Prevalence Report (2002 and 2005) showed that infections are on the rise amongst the affluent and skilled. This is a major threat to the economy.
Though the number of historically disadvantaged South Africans moving into higher earning brackets is on the increase, “the number of people in poverty has stagnated. We have people trapped in poverty,” says Van Aardt. He attributes this to the skills shortage in South Africa and the mismatch between skills available and skills required.
SA among world’s freer economies
Wednesday, 05 March 2008 Economic freedom in South Africa is considered to be higher than that of the world average, according to
Heritage Foundation’s 2008 Index of Economic Freedom. With a score of 63.2%, South Africa’s levels of economic freedom are above the world average of 60.3%. South Africa earned a global ranking of 57, making it the fourth freest economy of the 40 African countries that were surveyed. The Africa rankings were topped by Mauritius (18), Botswana (36) and Uganda (52). South Africa ranked higher than emerging market competitors Brazil (101), India (115), China (126) and Russia 134).
Blacks flourishing SOWETO, South Africa - Black South Africans are reaping the benefits of a growing economy, and at the heart of it is Soweto, where Nelson Mandela presided over the gala opening of a multimillion-dollar mall yesterday. The sprawling township that was the center of the anti-apartheid struggle is being transformed, with new houses, new parks and paved roads.
But the table above tells a different story. Yes, the richer have become richer, but the poor have not become poorer.
What table?
The articles I posted from the report done in 2006 says the poor are getting POORER. What are you DESPERATE to live in fantasy land?
A couple other figures from the latest report. The amount of entrepreneurial activity has DECREASED over the last few years in SA and MOST of that activity is AMONG WHITES (as if that is a surprise).
quote: These age and gender patterns of entrepreneurial activity are similar for those in all the GEM countries combined. Figure six shows: • racial differences in levels of entrepreneurial activity: with more than double among the whites (10,1%) and Indians (10,3%) than among Africans (4,6%) • locational differences are more striking: nearly 10% of metro adults are engaged in a start-up or new firms, while in rural areas it’s fewer than 2%. The low TEA index for black adults is explained in part by the fact that the black population is concentrated disproportionately in rural areas, where rates of entrepreneurial activity may be lower due to low economic activity.
quote: With regard to labour market outcomes, the LFS 2005 showed that the unemployment rate according to the official definition among Africans remained higher than among Indian/Asian, coloured and white people by a large margin. For example, in September 2005, the unemployment rate among black Africans was 31,5% against 22,4% among coloured people and 5,1% among white people. Over the period, the unemployment rate for black Africans decreased by 4,4%, increased marginally for coloured people, decreased by 2,6% for Indian/Asian and decreased marginally for whites. ... The racial imbalance is further reflected in the irony that 50% of Africans live in households of four or more people compared with only 30% of whites. Yet, in terms of the number of rooms available to households, 73% of Africans have four or less rooms (including kitchens and where applicable, toilets) while 86% of white people have four or more rooms in a household. In terms of access to electricity, 40% of Africans use it as the energy source for cooking, while for whites the percentage is 96,6%. Many other indicators can be used to illustrate this disparity. At the level of ownership and/or control of wealth, the proportion of senior management who are black in all senior management positions increased by 8,4% (percentage points) between 2000 and 2004; while for whites a decrease of 8,6% was recorded over the same period. (See tables eight – 10). ... One of the major consequences of this race-based system of economic power, in the context of political democracy, is the dichotomy in leadership between political institutions (predominantly black) and economic institutions (predominantly white).
Report on social and economic trends in SA from 2006.
quote: Main social trends South Africa has experienced an improvement in the quality of life of the majority of citizens, but the backlogs – defined still in terms of race – remain huge. For those on the lowest rung of the socio-economic ladder, there are manifestations of a poverty trap influenced by such factors as education, gender and geographic location and reflected in income, access to opportunities and assets – an expression of two economies in one country. The system has in the past decade shown a vibrant tendency to provide welcome possibilities, especially where educational opportunities have been provided. The mass migration into the middle strata and beyond, among those who were squashed under the glass ceiling of apartheid is a reflection both of ‘normalisation’ and the expansion of opportunity. However, inequality even within these strata seems to be increasing. Data suggests low economic activity and a spirit of entrepreneurship, particularly among African and coloured communities, especially in rural areas. Artisanship and self-employment seem not to be widespread. Massive migration to areas with higher economic potential confirms the artificiality of the apartheid economic geography, and puts high on the agenda the issue of spatial planning. The programmes of the democratic Government have put quite a high premium on equity as it applies to targeted groups, including women, children and people with disability. The impact has been discernible, but from a low base. The variety of other social trends such as migration, the poverty trap, and weak social networks affect these groups even more keenly.
quote: Overview
The unemployment rate in South Africa is one of the highest in the world, 36% to 42% since the year 2000 using the broad definition. Even according to the narrow definition, which applies a job-search test, 25-30% of adults who wanted work and actively looked for it were unemployed. Moreover, the unemployment rates for different groups reveal great disparity in the incidence of unemployment. Given the importance of employment income in total household income in South Africa, the varying incidence of unemployment across different groups has important implications for the distribution of income and for the incidence of poverty. It is of policy interest to know how the incidence of unemployment varies by worker characteristics. That is, what attributes are associated with being able to avoid unemployment. Moreover, it is of particular interest, in the South African context, to examine to what extent differences in the productive and other observed characteristics of blacks and whites explain the race gap in unemployment. If the black-white differences in observed characteristics do not explain all the race-gap in unemployment rate, then this could be due either to labour market discrimination against blacks or due to the fact that some important characteristics that differ between blacks and whites are unobserved. For example, black and white labour force participants may have faced different school quality when they were of school-going age.
In this research, being undertaken by Geeta Kingdon and John Knight, the determinants of both entry into, and the duration of, unemployment in South Africa are being investigated using data from 1993, 1994 and 1997. The research aims to paint a picture of the distribution of unemployment in South Africa, asking the question ‘who are the unemployed?’ and identifying the characteristics that make a person more likely to be unemployed.
It is found that unemployment is very inequitably distributed in South Africa and certain groups are much more likely to enter it, and to stay in it, than others (Table below). Young uneducated Africans living in homelands and remote areas are most vulnerable to unemployment. There are two particularly striking features of South African unemployment: firstly, the fact that rural unemployment rates are higher than urban rates is atypical among countries and is explained by historical policies restricting mobility. Secondly, the majority (62%) of the unemployed have never held a job before, i.e., they entered unemployment from the time of entering the labour force. The very long duration of unemployment (>1 year) among a high proportion (68%) of the unemployed suggests that the demand-side of the labour market is responsible for a good part of the unemployment.
quote: Recent estimates of poverty show that the proportion of people living in poverty has not changed much since the mid 1990s. At the same time, however there is evidence that those living in poverty have sunk deeper into poverty and the gap between rich and poor has widened. Moreover, whereas in the apartheid era, there was a definite racial cast to the distribution of wealth and poverty, today, there is a growing stratification within African ethnic groups along class lines, with the noveau rich on the top and the abjectly poor on the bottom.
In 2001 it was estimated that 57% of South Africa's population lived below the poverty line. Sixty-one percent of Africans and 38% of coloreds were poor, compared to five percent of Indians and one percent of whites. Limpopo and the Eastern Cape had the highest proportion with 77% and 72% of their populations living below the poverty line. The Western Cape, where the largest percentage of White English speakers is concentrated had the lowest proportion of people below the poverty line. Significantly the largest concentration of people in urban areas who were below the poverty line was at 85% in Ntabankulu in Eastern Cape and the lowest was in the city of Stellenbosch in the Western Cape.
posted
the report you post is not that much different than what i posted doug,but there is one big diffence that is a 2001 report and i saw it that is why i di not post it. i was going to do it put it was different from the lastest reports below and what posted above.my info says that there has been even mor progress since 2001 up to now.so no i do not have my head in the sky but you will if you kept on playing with me. only kidding with that last part.
anyway here are facts like it or not.
SA Good News"The rich have become richer and the poor, poorer,” another caller announced as I listened further on the radio talk show. But the table above tells a different story. Yes, the richer have become richer, but the poor have not become poorer. What has happened though is that the rich have become richer faster than the poor have become less poor. This was covered recently in the Sunday Times in a report which stated that South Africa is one of the most upwardly mobile societies in the world!
Need further evidence? Read the article in the FM entitled Soweto rising which tells us that there has been a huge economic turnaround in Soweto, most evident in the dramatic growth in retail space. Shopping malls are popping up everywhere, with more planned. Until about five years ago, infrastructural development and private investment was considered too risky. This perception changed when studies showed that the living
standards of many blacks were moving up to the “middle class level”. Various malls around Soweto are now
providing shopping and entertainment previously only available in the leafy suburbs.
my comment - the south african population growth rate 1% a year so it will grow more than 48 million.it may reach 55 million to maybe 56 million by 2020
The chart below was produced by the South African Advertising Research Foundation and illustrates how the demographics of families residing at each level have changed between 1994 and 2006.
posted
And again you post a chart showing ALL South Africans as a group and NOT a chart showing the SPECIFIC data for BLACKS in South Africa. That is just denying reality by pretending that the increase in GDP is EQUALLY benefiting whites as it is blacks, when you know full well that it isn't.
Why don't you show me a chart showing the percentages of blacks in the upper income, middle income and lower income categories in South Africa. BLACKS ONLY not blacks and everyone else lumped together.
You are proving my point over and over again. You rely on statistics that lump blacks and whites together and HIDE the fact that a HIGH percentage of blacks in South Africa are unemployed and that MOST blacks are living in poverty.
Stay in fantasy land Kenndo.
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posted
forget the chart,that is an excuse, read the article man.it tells you what is going on.
quote:Originally posted by kenndo: the report you post is not that much different than what i posted doug,but there is one big diffence that is a 2001 report and i saw it that is why i di not post it. i was going to do it put it was different from the lastest reports below and what posted above.my info says that there has been even mor progress since 2001 up to now.so no i do not have my head in the sky but you will if you kept on playing with me. only kidding with that last part.
anyway here are facts like it or not.
SA Good News"The rich have become richer and the poor, poorer,” another caller announced as I listened further on the radio talk show. But the table above tells a different story. Yes, the richer have become richer, but the poor have not become poorer. What has happened though is that the rich have become richer faster than the poor have become less poor. This was covered recently in the Sunday Times in a report which stated that South Africa is one of the most upwardly mobile societies in the world!
Need further evidence? Read the article in the FM entitled Soweto rising which tells us that there has been a huge economic turnaround in Soweto, most evident in the dramatic growth in retail space. Shopping malls are popping up everywhere, with more planned. Until about five years ago, infrastructural development and private investment was considered too risky. This perception changed when studies showed that the living
standards of many blacks were moving up to the “middle class level”. Various malls around Soweto are now
providing shopping and entertainment previously only available in the leafy suburbs.
my comment - the south african population growth rate 1% a year so it will grow more than 48 million.it may reach 55 million to maybe 56 million by 2020
South Africa has experienced an improvement in the quality of life of the majority of citizens, but the backlogs – defined still in terms of race – remain huge. For those on the lowest rung of the socio-economic ladder, there are manifestations of a poverty
this is what you posted aboved
global rankings. While there is a reasonable supply of houses in the R2m plus bracket at the top end, and in the R50 000 to R400 000 bracket at the bottom end, there is a chronic shortage of mid-priced houses – further evidence of a growing middle class. Once again, most of these aspirant owners are black. There are an estimated 23 million cell phone users in the country. The tax net has grown from 2.3 million taxpayers in 1994 to nearly 7 million today, and this is expected to grow to 10,5 million by 2010. Do the maths – the numbers indicate a growing middle class!
The middle-class has a vested interest in the future, the future of their children, of schooling, of health
institutions, of infrastructure, of political stability and of economic well-being. This creates upward pressure on delivery; better shops, higher quality entertainment, working infrastructure, good schools, safe amenities, and
professional healthcare.
Is there a growing middle-class? Absolutely. Is it the solution to poverty and unemployment? Only partially.
Is it good for our country? Fundamentally.
Will it continue to grow? Sure, provided we can produce the skills and maintain economic growth levels and
posted
doug all the colors represented are black famlies
the red is 1994,the orange is 2000 and yellow is 2006.
here is recent fact sabout south africa
The black middle class grew by 30% in 2005, adding another 421,000 black adults to SA's middle-income layer according to the Financial Mail. Between 2001 and 2004, there were 300,000 new black entrants to the middle class.
In 2005, 10 million South Africans benefited from access to social grants
In the global measure of women in Parliament, South Africa ranks 8th in the world.
Of the 10 LSM levels ( LSM1=poorest; LSM10 wealthiest ), the average SA family located in LSM6
Almost a quarter of South Africa’s non-interest budget is spent on education
South African media ranks 31st out of 167 countries in the Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2005,
higher than any country in Asia, the Middle East or South America, and ahead of Japan, Spain, Italy and
the United States.
South Africa ranks in the top four countries worldwide in terms of the transparency surrounding its
budgets - ahead of the US, Norway and Sweden - according to the Open Budget Index.
---------------------------- 421,000 black adults came into the middle class in 2005 alone.that is more than 2001 and 2004 combined.wow.
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quote:Originally posted by kenndo: There are different numbers that have been out on the growing black middle class.it may be true that most blacks in south africa maybe poor but it is shrinking.the trick for this is getting more control of the economy and land and grow further as the years go by.this will take time.they would and are doing is getting as much as the pie as much as they can while creating anew pie.this is what they are doing,and it is the best way to go. they have only been free for less than 20 years.
A person awhile ago on a radio show from south africa mention that most blacks are not poor but there is a large number that still is.SO THERE is conflicting info and i see more clearly where it is coming from.
The best way to get a more clear picture is to contact the south african embassy.so instead of me going back and forth,it is best to get it from the source and that is what i will do after i post.I CONTACTED THEM BEFORE AND I WILL DO IT AGAIN. I suggest everyone do the same because i will not come back to this thread,but it is clear progress is happening on all fronts and things will look different more so in 2008,2009,2010,20012,2015,2020 etc etc.
posted
Most of the rosy data about south African middle class comes from MARKETING AGENCIES. Of course they have a vested interest and they are not necessarily telling the truth. Yes, the best bet is to go to the source because the data is QUITE contradictory, which means SOMEBODY is trying to cover up the truth.
Bottom line, I find it hard to believe that with an unemployment rate of 40%, from the governments OWN data, that most blacks in SA are in the middle class.
quote: S. Africa's poor left behind as black middle class grows font size ZoomIn ZoomOut
Income gap inside the African population, South Africa's major but traditionally disadvantaged group, is becoming wider as some get rich thanks to the government 's black empowerment policies but more are left far behind, a survey showed on Tuesday.
Inequality within the African population was greater than that in any other population group, which could be a potentially destabilizing factor for the country, the South African Institute of Race Relations said in Johannesburg while releasing its annual South Africa Survey series.
The survey found that levels of inequality, measured by the gini coefficient, had increased for all race groups except whites since 1996.
But the increases were most dramatic for the African population which saw levels of inequality rise by 21 percent to 0.64 on the gini coefficient since 1996. A score of 0 would indicate complete equality and 1 would indicate complete inequality.
Inequality within the colored community increased by 17 percent to 0.56, the Indian population recorded a 6 percent increase in inequality to 0.50 while the white community saw its levels of inequality decline by 2 percent to 0.44.
Jane Tempest, the head of the research, said growing inequality was in part an indication of the growth of the black middle class, which was a positive indicator.
But "the concern is that such growth has been accompanied by an increase in poverty among the lowest income groups," she told Xinhua. "The fact is the rich is getting richer and the poor getting poorer."
The African population, which makes up almost 80 percent of South Africa's total population, has been excluded from the mainstream economy for decades under white minority rule.
Only in recent years the black middle class, defined in South Africa as people who earn at least 154,000 rand (about 25,000 U.S. dollars) per year, has grown rapidly thanks mainly to the government's black empowerment policies intended to increase black participation in the mainstream economy.
But the black empowerment policies have drawn criticism even from the black people, who believe the policies benefit only a small group of black elite but leave the majority far behind.
Figures published in the South Africa Survey showed that the proportion of South Africans living on less than one dollar a day, the measure of absolute poverty, had more than doubled since 1994, which saw the election of Nelson Mandela as the country's first black president and the end of apartheid.
Using a different measure of poverty, 60 percent of black South African households lived on less than R2,899 (467 dollars) per month for a household of eight in 2004, up from 50 percent in 1996, while the proportion of white households under this standard rose from 2 percent to 4 percent.
Tempest explained with this amount of money South African families can only purchase essential goods, which is, though better than absolute poverty, still an indicator of poverty.
quote: In 2001 it was estimated that 57% of South Africa's population lived below the poverty line. Sixty-one percent of Africans and 38% of coloreds were poor, compared to five percent of Indians and one percent of whites. Limpopo and the Eastern Cape had the highest proportion with 77% and 72% of their populations living below the poverty line. The Western Cape, where the largest percentage of White English speakers is concentrated had the lowest proportion of people below the poverty line. Significantly the largest concentration of people in urban areas who were below the poverty line was at 85% in Ntabankulu in Eastern Cape and the lowest was in the city of Stellenbosch in the Western Cape.
Summary: anywhere from 40 to 60% of blacks still live in poverty.
Another report mirroring the above findings. By any measure MOST blacks are still at the ABSOLUTE BOTTOM of all economic and wealth indicators in South Africa. But you will believe what you want to believe.
posted
the offical data is really 25% but the black unemployment rate for blacks is around 30 to maybe 40% that has gone down recently i have to around 35%more or less.and again that a 2001 data.blacks are not getting poorer there anymore.i just posted above more recent info it seems that you can't stand when blacks today are during well for some reason.it seems you hate it when good news or progress is happening anywhere.it's like kryptonite to you.i guess to do not want to see blacks make in this world and it gives you a reason to complain about the white man no matter what.okay i am done i am not reading anymore of your post this time,for real.
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The official data excludes those who have given up looking for work. I told you this before. If you add in those who have STOPPED looking for work, the number is about 40%. What is so good about that?
NOTHING.
I never said that there was NO progress, what I said is that it ISN'T having an affect for the MAJORITY of blacks in South Africa in a SIGNIFICANT way. You just are buying into the marketing and deception PURPOSELY being put out by whites and their cronies in the government of SA. The point being that as long as you believe those rosy pictures, you will never really push for MORE CHANGE.
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you mean the blacks and they white cronies.everything to you whites are in control.when blacks do get control of most of the wealth i have a funny feeling that will not be enought for you.you will say thier is no real progress because whites still are living in the country.it is a much roser picture than you realize.i just posted something up there. it says blacks are being affected by the postive changes in a significant way.if you do not want to believe that that i can't help you.this is it for now.
this is a website i just found.it mentions what was going in 1999.
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Related documents The impact of growth and redistribution on poverty and inequality in South Africa, Jun 2007 Poverty and inequality impacts of Trade Policy Reforms in South Africa, May 2007 Reflections on poverty and inequality in South Africa: Policy considerations in an emerging democracy, 18 Sep 2006 Poverty and inequality: a question of rights, 2006 Social policy, gender inequality and poverty, Feb 2001
An overview of poverty and inequality in South Africa - Working Paper prepared for DFID (SA)
3. Who is poor in South Africa?
Living standards are closely correlated with race in South Africa. While poverty is not confined to any one racial group in South Africa, it is concentrated among blacks4, particularly Africans. According to the 1999 October Household Survey:
* 52% of Africans are poor5.
* While Africans make up 78% of the population, they account for 95% of the poor.
* 17% of Coloureds are poor, in comparison with rates of less than 5% among Indians and Whites.
The neat division of the South African population into only four race groups obscures the fact that there are some small ethnic minorities (such as the San) whose live in extreme poverty. These groups are not adequately captured in household surveys.
Since a household survey collects information principally at the household level, it cannot tell us much about the inequalities in resource allocations within households. When we talk about poor women, for example, we are talking about those women who are living in poor households. In reality, there may be many women who, although they live in non-poor households, should be counted as poor because of the inequalities in intra-household allocations. What does emerge clearly from the South African household surveys, however, is that households headed by women are more likely to be poor.
* A household headed by a resident male has a 28% probability of being poor, whereas a household with a de jure female head has a 48% chance of being poor and a household with a de facto female head (because the nominal male head is absent) has a 53% chance of being poor.6
* There are at least four factors at play here: female-headed households are more likely to be in the rural areas where poverty is concentrated, female-headed households tend to have fewer adults of working age, female unemployment rates are higher and the wage gap between male and female earnings persists [2].
Poor households lack access to basic services, although there have been remarkable strides in the provision of clean water and adequate sanitation since 1994. According to the OHS of that year, in 1999,
* 75% of the non-poor had electricity, compared with 27% of the poor;
* 73% of the non-poor had access to adequate sanitation (flush, Chemical or VIP toilet), compared with 38% of the poor;
* 77% of the non-poor have piped water, compared with 47% of the poor.7
There is a very strong correlation between educational attainment and standard of living (see Figure 2). According to the 1998 IES and OHS,
* 58% of adults with no education are poor;
* 53% of adults that have less than seven years of (primary) education are poor.
* 34% of adults with incomplete secondary schooling are poor;
* poverty rates drop significantly with the attainment of “matric” and further qualifications. 15% of those with completed high school are poor and only 5% of those with tertiary education are poor.8
Enrolment rates in South Africa are high and do not reflect gender bias: the gross primary enrolment for boys is 135% and 131% for girls [17], although this is hard to interpret because of high repeat rates. In 2000, 94% of boys and 95% of girls aged 8-16 were enrolled in school [14].
Poverty and morbidity and mortality are linked. The poor have particular difficulties in accessing health care because they do not have the most basic income for transport, food and basic clothing [15].
* 54 of every 1000 rural African infants dies before age 1; compared with 39 urban African infants and 11 White infants [6] (see Table 1).
* Child (under 5) mortality in the poorest province, Eastern Cape, is 81 per 1000, compared with 13 in the Western Cape [6].
* Health expenditure is 7% of GNP, but less than half of this is public spending [17].
* Less than one-fifth of South Africans belong to medical aid schemes, yet the private health care system employs 85% of pharmacists and 60% of medical specialists [7].
* There are health spending and service-level inequities between rural and urban areas. For example, in 1998 public health spending in the Grahamstown district is four times the level of the Mount Frere district [7].
* TB testing is available at 88% of urban clinics, but only at 59% of rural ones [7].
* Pap smears are only available at 29% of rural clinics, compared with 72% of urban clinics [7].
* In 2000, 25% of women attending antenatal clinics were HIV-positive. However, in KwaZulu-Natal 36% were infected, compared with less than 10% in the Western Cape [8].
South Africa has one of the highest per capita HIV prevalence and infection rates in the world with an HIV prevalence rate for adults of about 25 per cent in 2001. The comparative figure for the whole population was about 13 per cent. The percentage of adult deaths that could be attributed to AIDS-related diseases increased from about 9 per cent in 1995/1996 to about 40 per cent by 2000/2001. HIV/AIDS is impacting negatively on human capital realisation, skills availability and skills shortages in South Africa. HIV/AIDS will also have dire consequences for household income and household expenditure patterns [16].
Children are disproportionately represented among the poor.
* Almost 10 million (or 58% of) children are poor (using a relative poverty line which defines the poorest 40% of households as poor).
* Three-quarters of children (more than 2 million) in the Eastern Cape are poor.
* Around 30% of children in Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Free State are will not grow to their full potential (Health Systems Trust, 1998).
* The number of children orphaned by AIDS in South Africa may reach 1 million children by 2004. [1]9.
The disabled population are also disproportionately poor.
* The 1999 OHS suggests that while less than 2% of individuals living in households with monthly incomes above R10 000 are categorised as disabled, the disability rate was more than twice as high for individuals living in households with monthly incomes below R800 per month (in 1999 terms).
Not surprisingly, poverty and unemployment are closely linked. Table 2 shows that the unemployment rate among those from poor households is 52%, in comparison with an overall national rate of 29%. In addition, labour force participation is lower in poor than non-poor households. More than half of the working-age poor (or about 5 million adults) are outside of the labour market. As a result, the percentage of working age individuals from households below the poverty line that are actually working is significantly lower than average. Only 24% of poor adults (about 2 million people) are employed, compared with 49% (or 8 million) from non-poor households.
Figure 3 shows the differences between the sources of income for poor and non-poor households10 (where “poor” means below the higher poverty line defined above). It is clear that the poor are far more dependent on remittances and state transfers than the non-poor. What cannot immediately be seen from the graph is that poor households typically rely on multiple sources of income. This reduces risk, as the household is less vulnerable if it should experience a sudden loss of income from a particular source. Figure 3 again highlights the importance of wage income. Poor households are characterised by a lack of wage income, either as a result of unemployment or of low-paid jobs. The cost of unemployment goes further than loss of income and even feelings of personal worth. South Africa’s failure to socialise many young men, which is evident in the high rates of crime, alcohol abuse and family violence creates a vicious cycle of family breakdown [15].
Footnote:
4. The term “black” refers to Africans, Coloureds and Asians. 5. By poor we mean that household income is less than R800 per month (1999 Rands). 6. These figures are based on the PSLSD data as the 1995 OHS data did not make a distinction between de facto and de jure household heads. 7. The figure for access of the non-poor to safe water is up dramatically from the 1995 figure of only 28%. 8. The incidence of poverty among those with some tertiary education is largely accounted for by young adults that are still studying and thus not yet reaping the financial rewards of their education. 9. A cumulative number of 1.1 million children will likely be orphaned by AIDS within the next five years, but since approximately one-third of infants born to HIV-positive mothers are infected, without treatment, some infants who are destined to be orphans will also be diagnosed with AIDS themselves. 10. Capital income refers to income from sources such as dividends, interest and imputed rent. Imputed rent is the price attached to the benefit of owning the dwelling in which the household resides. The household is, in effect, renting the dwelling from itself.
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since than the black middle class has grown so it is hard to know if the black poor is still 52%.remember it was higher in the older days under whites.the growth of the population has slowed down,but it was faster before that is one reason that it was harder to get more blacks in the middle class.and the economy slowed down in the 90's.now that the population is not growing as fast. I assume over the years more blacks will make even more so. i think the poverty rate today maybe 40 TO 45% or .i will contact them directly for 2007 numbers the poor should go down further because the population slowed down but still growing. the aids number went down to 11% or 10% or around there.ON THE BBC I REPORTER WAS TALKING TO A MAN LAST WEEK AND HE SAID THAT THE extreme poor(i am talking about black africans) is around 20% and the poor is 20%.if that's true than 55 to 60% are not poor.in chart i made further sense of it.it breaks down to extreme poor,poor,low income-middle income and rich or upper-class. it seems that the low-income group breaks down to poor but not that poor and low-middle income.i will try to get a clear picture of that when i call,because that part of that low-income group does not belong in the poor group if the 40% number is right.
quote:Originally posted by kenndo: ...but most blacks in america do not seek either and will be always slaves and a footnote to another groups plans.example jazz is considered american music and not just black american music anymore and whites have or trying to claim it.it goes on and on and on.
As true as this point seems, I beg to differ that it will remain so.
Don't forget that America is not the native land of Europeans but of the native Americans (Indians). And since most of them have been victims of genocide (as I've been lead to believe), I think that land is very much open to anyone. Certainly, the black Africans there have as much claim to it as the white Europeans do. That the whites have dominated and continue to dominate is a matter of power at play.
I think black Americans can and should take that country and make it theirs. Other people should do likewise.
Posts: 3423 | From: the jungle - when y'all stop playing games, call me. | Registered: Jul 2006
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quote:Originally posted by kenndo: you mean the blacks and they white cronies.everything to you whites are in control.when blacks do get control of most of the wealth i have a funny feeling that will not be enought for you.you will say thier is no real progress because whites still are living in the country.it is a much roser picture than you realize.i just posted something up there. it says blacks are being affected by the postive changes in a significant way.if you do not want to believe that that i can't help you.this is it for now.
this is a website i just found.it mentions what was going in 1999.
Southern African Regional Poverty Network (SARPN) SARPN thematic photo Home | Subscribe | Feedback | Contact SARPN | Site map Français Português Country analysis > South Africa leftnavspacer
Search
Related documents The impact of growth and redistribution on poverty and inequality in South Africa, Jun 2007 Poverty and inequality impacts of Trade Policy Reforms in South Africa, May 2007 Reflections on poverty and inequality in South Africa: Policy considerations in an emerging democracy, 18 Sep 2006 Poverty and inequality: a question of rights, 2006 Social policy, gender inequality and poverty, Feb 2001
An overview of poverty and inequality in South Africa - Working Paper prepared for DFID (SA)
3. Who is poor in South Africa?
Living standards are closely correlated with race in South Africa. While poverty is not confined to any one racial group in South Africa, it is concentrated among blacks4, particularly Africans. According to the 1999 October Household Survey:
* 52% of Africans are poor5.
* While Africans make up 78% of the population, they account for 95% of the poor.
* 17% of Coloureds are poor, in comparison with rates of less than 5% among Indians and Whites.
The neat division of the South African population into only four race groups obscures the fact that there are some small ethnic minorities (such as the San) whose live in extreme poverty. These groups are not adequately captured in household surveys.
Since a household survey collects information principally at the household level, it cannot tell us much about the inequalities in resource allocations within households. When we talk about poor women, for example, we are talking about those women who are living in poor households. In reality, there may be many women who, although they live in non-poor households, should be counted as poor because of the inequalities in intra-household allocations. What does emerge clearly from the South African household surveys, however, is that households headed by women are more likely to be poor.
* A household headed by a resident male has a 28% probability of being poor, whereas a household with a de jure female head has a 48% chance of being poor and a household with a de facto female head (because the nominal male head is absent) has a 53% chance of being poor.6
* There are at least four factors at play here: female-headed households are more likely to be in the rural areas where poverty is concentrated, female-headed households tend to have fewer adults of working age, female unemployment rates are higher and the wage gap between male and female earnings persists [2].
Poor households lack access to basic services, although there have been remarkable strides in the provision of clean water and adequate sanitation since 1994. According to the OHS of that year, in 1999,
* 75% of the non-poor had electricity, compared with 27% of the poor;
* 73% of the non-poor had access to adequate sanitation (flush, Chemical or VIP toilet), compared with 38% of the poor;
* 77% of the non-poor have piped water, compared with 47% of the poor.7
There is a very strong correlation between educational attainment and standard of living (see Figure 2). According to the 1998 IES and OHS,
* 58% of adults with no education are poor;
* 53% of adults that have less than seven years of (primary) education are poor.
* 34% of adults with incomplete secondary schooling are poor;
* poverty rates drop significantly with the attainment of “matric” and further qualifications. 15% of those with completed high school are poor and only 5% of those with tertiary education are poor.8
Enrolment rates in South Africa are high and do not reflect gender bias: the gross primary enrolment for boys is 135% and 131% for girls [17], although this is hard to interpret because of high repeat rates. In 2000, 94% of boys and 95% of girls aged 8-16 were enrolled in school [14].
Poverty and morbidity and mortality are linked. The poor have particular difficulties in accessing health care because they do not have the most basic income for transport, food and basic clothing [15].
* 54 of every 1000 rural African infants dies before age 1; compared with 39 urban African infants and 11 White infants [6] (see Table 1).
* Child (under 5) mortality in the poorest province, Eastern Cape, is 81 per 1000, compared with 13 in the Western Cape [6].
* Health expenditure is 7% of GNP, but less than half of this is public spending [17].
* Less than one-fifth of South Africans belong to medical aid schemes, yet the private health care system employs 85% of pharmacists and 60% of medical specialists [7].
* There are health spending and service-level inequities between rural and urban areas. For example, in 1998 public health spending in the Grahamstown district is four times the level of the Mount Frere district [7].
* TB testing is available at 88% of urban clinics, but only at 59% of rural ones [7].
* Pap smears are only available at 29% of rural clinics, compared with 72% of urban clinics [7].
* In 2000, 25% of women attending antenatal clinics were HIV-positive. However, in KwaZulu-Natal 36% were infected, compared with less than 10% in the Western Cape [8].
South Africa has one of the highest per capita HIV prevalence and infection rates in the world with an HIV prevalence rate for adults of about 25 per cent in 2001. The comparative figure for the whole population was about 13 per cent. The percentage of adult deaths that could be attributed to AIDS-related diseases increased from about 9 per cent in 1995/1996 to about 40 per cent by 2000/2001. HIV/AIDS is impacting negatively on human capital realisation, skills availability and skills shortages in South Africa. HIV/AIDS will also have dire consequences for household income and household expenditure patterns [16].
Children are disproportionately represented among the poor.
* Almost 10 million (or 58% of) children are poor (using a relative poverty line which defines the poorest 40% of households as poor).
* Three-quarters of children (more than 2 million) in the Eastern Cape are poor.
* Around 30% of children in Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Free State are will not grow to their full potential (Health Systems Trust, 1998).
* The number of children orphaned by AIDS in South Africa may reach 1 million children by 2004. [1]9.
The disabled population are also disproportionately poor.
* The 1999 OHS suggests that while less than 2% of individuals living in households with monthly incomes above R10 000 are categorised as disabled, the disability rate was more than twice as high for individuals living in households with monthly incomes below R800 per month (in 1999 terms).
Not surprisingly, poverty and unemployment are closely linked. Table 2 shows that the unemployment rate among those from poor households is 52%, in comparison with an overall national rate of 29%. In addition, labour force participation is lower in poor than non-poor households. More than half of the working-age poor (or about 5 million adults) are outside of the labour market. As a result, the percentage of working age individuals from households below the poverty line that are actually working is significantly lower than average. Only 24% of poor adults (about 2 million people) are employed, compared with 49% (or 8 million) from non-poor households.
Figure 3 shows the differences between the sources of income for poor and non-poor households10 (where “poor” means below the higher poverty line defined above). It is clear that the poor are far more dependent on remittances and state transfers than the non-poor. What cannot immediately be seen from the graph is that poor households typically rely on multiple sources of income. This reduces risk, as the household is less vulnerable if it should experience a sudden loss of income from a particular source. Figure 3 again highlights the importance of wage income. Poor households are characterised by a lack of wage income, either as a result of unemployment or of low-paid jobs. The cost of unemployment goes further than loss of income and even feelings of personal worth. South Africa’s failure to socialise many young men, which is evident in the high rates of crime, alcohol abuse and family violence creates a vicious cycle of family breakdown [15].
Footnote:
4. The term “black” refers to Africans, Coloureds and Asians. 5. By poor we mean that household income is less than R800 per month (1999 Rands). 6. These figures are based on the PSLSD data as the 1995 OHS data did not make a distinction between de facto and de jure household heads. 7. The figure for access of the non-poor to safe water is up dramatically from the 1995 figure of only 28%. 8. The incidence of poverty among those with some tertiary education is largely accounted for by young adults that are still studying and thus not yet reaping the financial rewards of their education. 9. A cumulative number of 1.1 million children will likely be orphaned by AIDS within the next five years, but since approximately one-third of infants born to HIV-positive mothers are infected, without treatment, some infants who are destined to be orphans will also be diagnosed with AIDS themselves. 10. Capital income refers to income from sources such as dividends, interest and imputed rent. Imputed rent is the price attached to the benefit of owning the dwelling in which the household resides. The household is, in effect, renting the dwelling from itself.
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since than the black middle class has grown so it is hard to know if the black poor is still 52%.remember it was higher in the older days under whites.the growth of the population has slowed down,but it was faster before that is one reason that it was harder to get more blacks in the middle class.and the economy slowed down in the 90's.now that the population is not growing as fast. I assume over the years more blacks will make even more so. i think the poverty rate today maybe 40 TO 45% or .i will contact them directly for 2007 numbers the poor should go down further because the population slowed down but still growing. the aids number went down to 11% or 10% or around there.ON THE BBC I REPORTER WAS TALKING TO A MAN LAST WEEK AND HE SAID THAT THE extreme poor(i am talking about black africans) is around 20% and the poor is 20%.if that's true than 55 to 60% are not poor.in chart i made further sense of it.it breaks down to extreme poor,poor,low income-middle income and rich or upper-class. it seems that the low-income group breaks down to poor but not that poor and low-middle income.i will try to get a clear picture of that when i call,because that part of that low-income group does not belong in the poor group if the 40% number is right.
unempoyment rate-25% for black african men-25% black african women-36.4
Like I told you before Kenndo, the unemployment rate for blacks is around 40%, but they leave out the 15% of those who have given up looking for work, making it 25%. I keep telling you this and it is documented clearly in the statistics from the SA government. Stop trying to MINIMIZE the problem. I am not saying that there is NO progress, but of COURSE it isn't enough. What are you saying that 40% unemployment for blacks is OK? And how on earth could the majority of blacks NOT be in poverty if 40% are unemployed? The point I am making is I don't TRUST a system that has been OPPRESSING blacks for over 200 years. I don't buy into that nonsense that 20 years after apartheid, with MOST of the land in the hands of whites and MOST of the money STILL in the hands of whites, that somehow all these blacks now make up the middle class and that they are catching up to whites. The numbers say JUST THE OPPOSITE. The whites are getting MUCH RICHER and they are making a FAKE BUFFER CLASS of blacks to sit between THEM and the majority of blacks at the bottom. So no, I don't trust the numbers and it is obvious that you are willing to accept whatever they tell you without double checking.
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kenndo is right about his general views on NIGERIA. Nigerians are very much in control of that country and most of our problems come from "native Nigerian" despotic leaders.
Most entrepreneural activity in Nigeria is by native Nigerians.
The white presence in Nigeria is in the form of the companies they own from the colonial days that still stand as the biggest corporations in Nigeria. The executives of these companies tend to be Nigerians who keep the status-quo.
The elite class of Nigeria could wipe out the white presence (which is REMOTE controlled anyway) tomorrow if they want to but of course they don't want to because they benefit economically from it and unfortunately don't seem to have the right vision of "taking over" the roles these foreign corporations play in Nigeria.
Overall, I am optimistic about Nigeria. I can't speak for other African nations though.
Posts: 3423 | From: the jungle - when y'all stop playing games, call me. | Registered: Jul 2006
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I have double check and right now triple check.EVEN FOR THE UNOFF. UNEMPLOYMENT RATE.IF I HAVE A FUUNY FEELING THAT HAS CHANGE TOO.BECAUSE LAST I HEARD IT WENT DOWN.SO IT IS NOT A MATTER OF IT BEING A ROSER PICTURE.IT IS A MATTER OF PAINTING A TRUE PICTURE REGARDLESS HOW LITTLE FAITH OR NO FAITH YOU HAVE IN MODERN BLACK FOLKS . I just called for info from south africa in new york city.MY PROBLEM WITH YOU is even if the middle class is much lower like you said it is it that you have no faith in what is going to happen more so in south africa.you deny THE major progress on ALL fronts up until today and you will go on to deny.that is my major problem with you doug.no faith in anything what blacks are trying to do.someones give you postive info,you look for the negative.if i give negative you will extend even more so.you do not believe in change and updated info.you are the boogyman. when it come to modern times doug.i talk about the negatives with my friends and the postives.i give a balance view,but when i talk to you i am forced to talk more so about the postives making me look like my head is in the cload all the time.well it is not.because you always talk about the negatives and it brings people down.if you see no hope for black folks in the future just say doug.you know you want to.you talk about the problems but you do not do nothing about them.if you feel so strongly go to south africa,help them see the light.but you will not do that will you. nope.you like in america and to complain what blacks worldwide are not doing instead of pointing out what things you do like .that is why i disagree with you doug mostly when it comes to africa today i agree only to a point with you on certain issues but not everthing.
now when it comes to america or most of latin america,i agree alot of what you say .i will leave at that.Sundiata HAS POSTIVE MINDSET FOR BLACK FOLK,EVEN THOUGH I DISAGREE WITH HIM ABOUT WHAT IS GOING ON IN AMERICA AT LEAST HE IS TRYING TO SEE HOPE FOR BLACKS IN AMERICA.I USE TO THINK THAT WAY TOO TO A POINT.IT IS JUST THAT IN AMERICA THE GLASS CEILING IS STILL TO HIGH.IN AFRICA NO ONE IS REALLY HOLDING BLACKS BACK EXCEPT NORTHERN AFRICA.
THERE IS A FREEDOM THERE THAT BLACKS IN AMERICA WILL REALLY NEVER HAVE OR IN THE FUTURE.I WAS THINKING BACK WHEN OBAMA SAID HE WILL RUN THAT MAYBE THERE WILL CHANCE BUT FOR ME CULTURE IS MAJOR ISSUE AS WELL AND WHEN I SAY THERE IS NOT GOING TO BE ANY REAL POSTIVE CHANGE I MEAN ISSUES DEALING ONLY WITH BLACK FOLKS IN AMERICA AND BLACK GETTING BACK THEIR AFRICAN CULTURE AS AWHOLE.I DO NOT WANT BLACKS IN AMERICA AS AWHOLE TO BE WESTENIZED. THEY SHOULD BE SPEAKING AN AFRICAN LANGUAGE,WORSHIPING AFRICAN GODS OR AT LEAST THE CHRISTAIN FAITH MOST HAVE IN THE U.S. SHOULD HAVE A AFRICAN CENTER.IT IS NOT ENOUGH FOR ME ANYMORE TO JUST TALK ABOUT THE PROBLEMS BUT TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.LIKE I SAID CERTIAN PROBLEMS IN AFRICA ARE OUTDATED AND THE REST IS BEING DEALED WITH,MAYBE NOT ALL OF IT YOUR WAY BUT CHANGE IS HAPPENING AS WHOLE.BUT THAT IS WHY I TRY NOT TO GO ON THESE THREADS ANYMORE .ONCE I AM FINISH HERE I WILL TRY TO MAKE SURE I DO NOT RETURN.
I will get a more correct numbers soon by email for south africa. in fact in raw numbers there are more black rich than white rich in south africa and the black rich are getting richer too.why leave them out.
you have to rememeber that the per capt income is not high enough to have a larger enough middle class like france for as example.the pie must get larger for that but for the per capt income it does have it is quite good for the size of theblack middle class.there is also a large black upper class too and in the 90's it was larger than russian rich.that was a fact back then
middle class is growing every year and it will get larger because pie is getter bigger.
that a fact and that is how are middle class groups grow in a country.the middle class in the u.s. was never this large before either.pie got larger in the u.s. since 1970.see the difference in the u.s. or japan.
the middle class and upper class make's up the 60% of the black income group. the rest are poor.but this could be wrong too let's hope it's not.
more update info will be sent to me. once i get this info because it's from south african sources it's not the outside, you better accept it AND THEN LET US DROP IT because this thread is really about obama.If you don't i have nothing else to say to you because you will show your true colors and plan.
Posts: 2688 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
^In Doug's defense I don't think he is as negative as your perceive. I think he is aware of the positives you mention ... but being older, more experienced and more mature, he is perhaps weary of "flash in the pan" progress that is all too common among recent black societies and nations. Therefore, as a remedy he tends to over-emphasise negatives and downplays the positives. Of course I can't speak for him but this is what I have extracted over the long term from him.
For us blacks who get too happy too quickly about superficial progress, you can view his statements as a sort of therapy - a way of letting us know not to get carried away with false assertions of victory until the job is done.Posts: 3423 | From: the jungle - when y'all stop playing games, call me. | Registered: Jul 2006
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YOU HAVE A POINT TO A CERTAIN EXTENT,BUT I WOULD NOT CALL THE VICTORY IN ANGLOA IN 1976 OVER THE WHITE RACIST SOUTH AFRICANS IN THE PAST, FASLE. THAT WAS A MAJOR VICTORY OVER WHITE RACIST.IS THERE A WAY TO GO WORLDWIDE?YES,BUT AT LEAST IN MOST OF AFRICA THERE IS BREATHING ROOM THAT YOU CAN'T GET IN EUROPE OR IN AMERICA . CERTAIN VICTORIES ARE MORE DEEPER THAN YOU THINK.IT HELPS CHANGE THE MINDSET OF BLACKS WORLDWIDE AND TO HELP GO FURTHER.THAT DOES NOT MEAN BLACKS NEED TO TAKE OVER EUROPE OR AMERICA BECAUSE THAT IS NOT NEEEDED.BLACKS SHOULD MAKE THEIR POSTIONS STRONGER WHERE EVER THERE ARE AT BUT AFRICA GIVES BLACKS MORE OF THAT EDGE JUST LIKE ASIA GIVES ASIANS MORE OF THAT EDGE.IN OTHER WORDS WE HAVE BLACKS IN MAJOR LEADERSHIP POSTIONS IN AFRICA AND HAVING OBAMA IS NOT REALLY NEEDED,IN FACT IT MAY CAUSE MORE HARM . WHAT IS NEEDED IS MAKING AFRICA STRONGER AND THAT IS HAPPENING BUT SLOWLY.IT NOT FAST ENOUGH OVERALL BUT PROGRESS IS HAPPENING BUT IN STEPS BECAUSE THIS IS NOT A MOVIE IT'S REAL LIFE,AND THERE IS GOING TO BE SOME FALLING DOWN,BUT AFRICANS AS AWHOLE DO NOT COMPLAIN OR COMPLAIN THAT MUCH,THEY JUST GET BACK UP.
SORRY I DID NOT EDIT MY POSTS ABOVE BUT YOU GET THE POINT.
Posts: 2688 | Registered: Jul 2004
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quote:Originally posted by kenndo: Not really . America is really a white state and it does not matter if what obama does WIN he will not really change u.s. policy.The u.s. is really controlled LARGLY from behind the scenes and black america is not really going to change it FROM WITHIN.one reason is that black america has a whole has given up on the struggle and are too americanized AND THEY WANT TO FIT IN A SINKING SHIP.that's what i mean.
I understand what you are trying to say but at the same time this sound defeat-ish, which is the same thing that you are essentially accusing African Americans of. Yet and still there are some valuable points that need not to be over looked and one is, America is still predominately European on paper but not in reality. American stats show that 85% of America is still European in population and we know this is so because they have recently added all Hispanics as European.
This is there recent systematic approach of conquer and divided. If they place Hispanics in the population format of European then that give Hispanics a sense of safety which drives Hispanics to vote for their so-called racial identity. Since the era of Bill Clinton they have been looking for ways to limit the voting power of AA’s and they have successfully found a loophole. African American in a sense is a stand alone people yet we are more separated by idealism then any other.
We are sinking but this is only possible because many of us don’t know that we are still on a ship; if you know what I mean. Now our people really shouldn’t be looking for Barak Obama to be the Messiah per say. Barak Obama is applying for the presidency of United States which means all people who are citizen of the U.S., he is obligated to fulfill their needs as a whole. I sometimes think that we have this impression that because he is black he has this obligation to fulfill our desires while not being attentive to Americans as a whole. This form of thinking is not realistic or doesn't have any access to logic.
kenndo wrote:
quote:Since whites are still the majority it is going to really take them to really change policy againist israel for example or they mind set toward africa,asia etc..
Actually, its going to take the nations mentioned above to change the opinions or views that E- Americans have against them. The same is the conditions for AA’s, its going to take AA’s to change EA’s opinions against us and the only way to do this is by becoming self-reliant, which means to depend on us for our needs. When Europeans created America, we were not part of the plan and thus that is why we are called African Americans verse Americans. When you say American, the world automatically think of a European Americans. If you want to be noticed and not taken lightly then you have to stop entertaining them with political speeches & marches and start doing your business which they will take notice of in due time.
Secondly, we have to stop selling-out, meaning selling our business to Europeans for the love of money; giving away our power of economical independence. Barak Obama can’t do this for us; we have to do this as a whole.
kenndo wrote:
quote:Even if this major change happens even in africa AND IT'S HAPPENING in certain ways more than we realize,euro-america and it's euro allies will still be a danger to africa.As long as there are whites in large numbers, africa will always be in danger,in fact the world.
This is where you are wrong at, there are as many or even less Europeans in Africa then there are Africans in the Americas. Brazil & United States along hold 120 million African Americans, there are not that many Europeans on a continent that hold 1 billion people and if there were, they are only 10% or less of Africa’s population. Power comes with Unity and if Africa united then there really wouldn’t be a problem. It’s the same in the Americas, if all those who were a victim of the Diaspora united, you would be look at well over 400 million African in European countries, yet we are powerless because we are not united. Europeans have allies, but AA & CA’s haven’t pushed hard-enough with our pan-African movements and thus Europeans are strong because they communicated while we as a whole look at each other imperfections and use them as weapons against each other. We as African American have more power then Europeans have in Africa. It is an illusion that Europeans have power to suppress or control the media when Africans can end that noise today.
kenndo wrote:
quote:America is in it's last days and they will not go down with out a fight.Iraq is an example,but america can't pull that crap with china,russia,or any enough strong enough african states.someone said will iran be the next iraq? well the only ones to make iran the next iraq is the iranians themselves.
If other states want to stop invasions from the u.s. you have to be strong enough or strong enough to come together to threaten the u.s. it's the only way to stop these u.s. invasions.
many countries these days are putting up less and less with the west and that's good news.let's hope they keep it up.
I hear you on this but I think that you are being irrational and not putting enough thought into what you are actually saying here. If the world is getting tired of the U.S. garbage per sa, then that simply means a different people will be put in the place of ruler-ship but what is their attitudes toward AA’s or CA’s? This could be a situation where you’re jumping out of the frying pan into the fire, if you know what I mean. Example would be what is going on here in America. Mexicans are starting to take over from the south and let me tell you, they hate African American with a passion. I think many of us forget that the Spaniards were the first to enslave Africans and Mexicans have a strong Spaniard presence running through their veins.
We have to be careful and truly analyze what we are truly saying and we must also review our position currently in the world. If we are not clear on where we are supposed to be then it is imperative to not jump for joy because we might be heading into a direction of what happened in Sudan.
Once again, I understand where you are coming from but at the same time we should rethink this post over and make sure we do for ourselves while the world is in the process of rebirthing a new start. We have to reposition ourselves and Barak Obama is showing what it take to do this. I don’t look at him or depend on his presidency … I am simply focused on the steps that he took to convert the idealism of mean Europeans.
If you put all of the emphasis on one man then if something happen to him such as and untimely death as we have seen many times before; the whole social construct of AA’s fall and this is what we need to avoid. Vote for him but if he doesn’t make it, a lesson was taught on what it take to put ourselves in a place of power.
Peace!~
Posts: 951 | From: where rules end and freedom begins | Registered: Jun 2004
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quote:Originally posted by R U 2 religious: kenndo wrote: quote: Even if this major change happens even in africa AND IT'S HAPPENING in certain ways more than we realize,euro-america and it's euro allies will still be a danger to africa.As long as there are whites in large numbers, africa will always be in danger,in fact the world.
--------------------------------------------------- This is where you are wrong at, there are as many or even less Europeans in Africa then there are Africans in the Americas. Brazil & United States along hold 120 million African Americans, there are not that many Europeans on a continent that hold 1 billion people and if there were, they are only 10% or less of Africa’s population. Power comes with Unity and if Africa united then there really wouldn’t be a problem. It’s the same in the Americas, if all those who were a victim of the Diaspora united, you would be look at well over 400 million African in European countries, yet we are powerless because we are not united. Europeans have allies, but AA & CA’s haven’t pushed hard-enough with our pan-African movements and thus Europeans are strong because they communicated while we as a whole look at each other imperfections and use them as weapons against each other. We as African American have more power then Europeans have in Africa. It is an illusion that Europeans have power to suppress or control the media when Africans can end that noise today.
! [/QB]
I agree with this. I was saying that europeans however are in large numbers in other areas on earth.like south america,europe and north america. they will always be a danger as long as they exist. we could look at their history.
I THINK HISPANICS ARE counted not as europeans except the white ones in america at least, but many hispanics of color have that european mindset,so you are right about that.
African americans and other blacks in THE U.S. make up about 38 to 40 million at least in THE U.S.BLACK BRAZILIANS AROUND 84 MILLIONAT LEAST.WHITES IN AMERICA I THINK ARE ABOUT 185 TO 190 MILLION OR AROUND THOSE NUMBER.IN BRAZIL IT'S AT LEAST 50 WHITES,BUT BRAZIL'S CENSUS I TRUST LESS THAN THE U.S. AND BLACKS IN BRAZIL HAVE MORE OF THE AFRICAN CULTURE MORE SO THAN BLACKS IN THE U.S. BUT THEY ARE NOT POLITICALLY ORGANIZED AS BLACKS IN THE U.S. AND THERE ARE OTHER ISSUES THERE BUT IF THEY GET THERE ACT TOGETHER THEY HAVE A BETTER CHANCE TO BE POLITICALLY FREE OR MORE FREE THAN BLACKS IN THE U.S. BECAUSE THE NUMBERS ARE MOSTLY THERE. IT WILL STILL BE HARD BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT A CLEAR MAJORITY,AND THEY ARE UNDER 50% IN COUNTRY THAT HAS AROUND 188 MILLION FOLKS.
SO I WOULD NOT SAY BLACKS WORLDWIDE ARE POWERLESS,BUT I WOULD SAY IN MANY OR MAYBE ALL WHITE RULED COUNTRIES MANY ACT POWERLESS.
nah,blacks should not save america.let it sink or blacks should create their own state in north america than they truly would be free or free enough or just leave america or both or give it back to the native americans.
Of course most blacks in america will not leave because they are too westenized and many need to be around white folks so most would not do africa any good with the current mindset that i do not see ever changing,so at least create a new country in north america or be doomed forever living under other folks rules. peace. Posts: 2688 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
Just a note of how my point of view is not unique and not paranoia, as opposed to a reflection of the facts:
quote: THIS world is not fair at all, especially The African and Black World. Go every corner in their world you find that black natives are the ones who don’t benefit much from what our Creator has give them. This is contrary to the world govern by our fellow Whites.
In Japan, the Japanese run the economy, in Germany, the Germans hold and run the entire economy to own benefits. In America, the Americans, especially those with light skinned are the ones who chew freely the economy while the original natives- the Red Indians are segregated.
In India, the economy is for Indians and for the Indians themselves. They can give out some assistance to other countries, but there should be more Indians. Like they portraying in Tanzania.
All those nationals they are benefiting the diamonds, golds, oil, uranium, waters, lands and all sort of God-given natural resources.
In Africa, it’s very contrary to that. The economy, natural resources; golds, diamonds, lands, waters and the like are managed and benefiting light skinned comers.
Why aren't the Africans, Tanzanians to be precisely running the economy? This is the biggest challenge I faced the other day from an American friend who paid a visit to my office. He kept on asking questions. Why you people are so poor? Are you mean? Don’t you have committed leaderships?
He said, he would expect to see Tanzanians leading very nice life as they have all precious lands, weather, natural resources and the like.
Why are you so poor? I told him I don’t know just as President Jakaya Kikwete does. He don’t know either why are we so poor to the extent that people are not aware of their next meal when they get one.
In Tanzania, white people; includes Indians, Americans, Germans are made up about 4% of the population but controlled most of the economy. In Tanzania the populations nears 40 milion.
They control 25% of the land, 92% of the banking, all manufacturing, all tourism, 74 % of gold, diamond and Tanzanits reserves. Hivi sisi tumerogwa!
For leaving all those big percentage in hands of foreigners, no matter they have bought citizenships, black Tanzanias are going backwards, even though we occupy 90 % of the population."
We need economic consciousness and to mobilise one another's spirit. We need economic leadership for ownership and control and we must work at owning our own intellectual property. Tanzanians needed economic solidarity.
We need black economic solidarity so that we can support each other. Black people don't have solidarity like the white people do. Ni ubinafsi tu kwa kila mmoja. I wonder.
posted
other groups do not make up 4% at least get that fact straight and at least most of the alnd is still in the hands of native folks..tanzanias have benefit over the years and ownship and controlling or two different things.if they man in the blog says that outsiders own the economy that is not true.any way i do not think it''s true in every corner of the earth that blacks do not benefit.this is a blog and anyone could say anything. I would rather read a true source than someones opinion.anyone could say shi----. HECK THERE are whites in america who believe that america do not control their most of own economy and we know that's not true either but outsiders do control a large part of it,but not most. folks have the power in thier own states to really change things and nobody else is going to do it.
People
About 98 percent of Tanzania's people are black Africans. Most of the rest are people descended from Arabs, Europeans, and Asians from India and Pakistan.
The black Africans belong to about 120 ethnic groups, including the Sukuma, Chagga, Makonde, and Nyamwezi peoples. No single group is large enough to control the country, and Tanzania has not suffered the ethnic violence that has troubled other African nations. Tanzania's ethnic balance has helped the government develop a sense of national unity.
Economy Tanzania has a developing economy based on agriculture. The country follows a socialist economic system, under which the government controls the nation's banks, major industries, and large farms. Some small businesses are privately owned. Although the government has encouraged industrial development, most industries are small and unprofitable. Tanzania depends on hydroelectric plants and imported petroleum to generate electric power.
Large, government-operated farms produce many of the crops that Tanzania exports. Most of these farms were private plantations under British rule.
The major export crops include coffee, cotton, tea, and tobacco. About two-thirds of Tanzania's export earnings come from these crops. Other important crops produced for foreign trade include cashew nuts, cloves, coconuts, sisal (a plant used in making rope), and sugar cane.
Service industries, taken together, account for about half the total value of Tanzania's economic production. Government and trade are the leading service industries. Other service industries include banking, education, health care, insurance, and tourism. The government administers many service industries, including banking, education, insurance, and health care. Most of Tanzania's wholesale and retail trade involves the sale of farm products. Tourism benefits many types of establishments, including hotels, national parks, and restaurants. The chief tourist attractions are the wildlife in the national parks. Many tourists also enjoy the palm-shaded coastal beaches.
Manufacturing contributes about 5 percent of the country's economic production. Food processing is Tanzania's chief industry. Other important industries produce fertilizer, textiles, and petroleum products. Tanzania also has factories that produce aluminum, cement, paper, sugar, and steel. Mining accounts for less than 1 percent of the economic production of Tanzania. Mining operations produce diamonds and other gemstones, coal, and gold.
ciaworldfactbook- Industry traditionally featured the
processing of agricultural products and light consumer goods. The World Bank, the
IMF, and bilateral donors have provided funds to rehabilitate Tanzania's out-of-date economic infrastructure and to alleviate poverty. Long-term growth through 2005 featured a pickup in industrial production and a substantial increase in output of minerals led by gold. Recent banking reforms have helped increase private-sector growth and investment. Continued donor assistance and solid macroeconomic policies supported real GDP growth of nearly 7% in 2007.
GDP - real growth rate: 6.9% (2007 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 42.8% industry: 18.4% services: 38.7% (2007 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP): Population below poverty line:
posted
Kenndo, you don't know what on earth you are talking about. Whites and other foreigners own more than you think. Why do you think there was a crisis in Zimbabwe? Why do you think Mugabe recently signed a bill for 51% of Zimbabwes industries to be owned by the people of Zimbabwe? If they already controlled such industries, then why would they need to take such drastic measures? You are overly optimistic and put to much faith in whites. Africa's economies are still dominated by whites, whether you know it or not. Just like South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya. The only difference is that those countries have well publicized struggles against the white minority. But the same situation exists in ALL of Africa, whether you know it or not. Of course whites and these other foreigners like to keep their operations hush hush. They have been doing this since they arrived in Africa, going into the heart of darkness and secretly establishing vast plantations and other kinds of resource operations, while telling the public about widlife preservation, curing diseases and other such "nice sounding" activities. But in reality what they do is use such operations as cover to take more resources from Africans.
But lets go to the specifics.
Tourism:
MOST of Africa's tourism industry is operated BY WHITES FOR WHITES. This includes Eco Lodges, Hotels (major chains and luxury resorts), Safari tours and hiking expeditions. Yes, Africans are part of these operations of course, as servants, entertainment, guides and "natives" of the particular region, in traditional attire. The problem is that all of these operations are based on THOUSANDS of acres of African land that no longer belong to the Africans and they are forced to survive off the chump change they get from being servants to whites. So how is that empowerment? These people are still treated as nothing more than servants to whites on huge resorts set aside for whites, just like what you saw in Out of Africa. You call that progress?
Industry. Whites and foreigners control most of the industry in Africa. Period. That isn't even subject to debate. Mines, manufacturing and so forth. Don't make me laugh if you think Africans control most of these operations. And most of these operations are associated with the political parties and other institutions of the power elite in the West.
Barrick Gold (associated with Bush interests) Geita Gold:
quote: Geita is a town in Tanzania of approximately 40,000 people, located 90 kilometers west of Mwanza. Geita first came into prominence as the site of a German colonial gold mine. A German gold prospector discovered the mineral in the early 1900s in the hills surrounding modern-day Geita town. This and other discoveries triggered a gold rush in the surrounding area, attracting German and native prospectors alike. The colonial government established a mine to exploit 'Bismarck Reef'. Mining activities significantly declined, however, when Germany ceded control of its colonies to the British after their defeat in World War I.
Geita regained it's prominence in the mid to late 1990s when the Tanzanian government opened the mineral sector to foreign investment. A number of medium to large-scale mining houses, including Ashanti and Anglo-American, conducted extensive exploration activities in the surrounding areas. The most significant outcome of those activities was the construction of the Geita Gold Mine, now owned by AngloGoldAshanti. The Geita Gold Mine is Tanzania's largest gold producer.
Gold rushes continue to occur in areas surrounding Geita, mainly in and around Rwamagasa and Matabe. These gold rushes have attracted tens of thousands of prospectors from all around the country. Being subsistence miners, their activities are highly unregulated, resulting in dangerous mining practices and considerable environmental destruction, not the least of which are increased mercury pollution and extensive deforestation.
Geita is also the district seat of the Geita District in the Mwanza Region.
Anglo Gold: The latest incarnation of the racist DeBeers organization that has been moved out of South Africa, taken and taken all its profits (made off the backs of blacks) and is using it to explore (exploit) mineral resources elsewhere in Africa and the rest of the world. NO DIFFERENT than what the whites have been doing in Africa ALL ALONG. What has changed? NOTHING.
quote: Anglo American plc (LSE:AAL, JSE: ANGLO) is a world-wide group of companies, originally founded in South Africa as a mining enterprise but now extending into other areas. Natural resources remains the focus of its operations. Its headquarters are in London, UK with its primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Sir Ernest Oppenheimer founded the Anglo American Corporation, a gold mining company, in 1917. The AAC became the majority stakeholder in the De Beers company in 1926. Two years later the AAC began mining in the Zambian copper belt. Anglo American merged with Minorco on May 24, 1999.[1] Its gold mining operations were spun off into the separate AngloGold corporation, which later merged with the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation to form AngloGold Ashanti.
The group's subsidiaries include Tarmac (UK), Copebras (Brazil), Anglo Platinum Ltd (South Africa). It also holds 45% of the diamond mining company De Beers.[2] The Mondi Group was spun out in 2007.
In August 2007 British charity War on Want published a report accusing Anglo American of profiting from the abuse of people in the developing countries in which the company operates. According to the charity, "in the Philippines and South Africa, local communities threatened with Anglo American mines have faced severe repression in their fight to stay on their land, while in Ghana and Mali, local communities see little of the huge profits being made by AngloGold Ashanti but suffer from fear and intimidation and from the damaging impact of its mines on their environment, health and livelihoods".[3]
Anglo American was also accused in 2007 of damageable environmental practices: in order to complete its planned Alaskan Pebble Mine in collaboration with Northern Dynasty Minerals, the global mining giant may build a massive dam at the headwaters of the world's largest sockeye salmon fishery, which it would risk obliterating.[4] Opponents are also pointing to the use of cyanide, heavy metals, and acid mine drainage which can all have potentially devastating effects on the pristine environment of the Bristol Bay area.
Same racist companies continuing to do the SAME THING that they have been doing all along. So WHAT is different? The only thing that is different is that blacks THINK that they are getting ahead because the whites are paying them a couple more dollars. But they are STILL SLAVES, because they DON'T CONTROL the economy and they DEPEND on the money from the whites to survive.
Go check your facts and see what you come up with.
As a matter of fact, lets keep it simple. Name ONE major hotel or resort on a large reservation owned and operated by Africans in Africa. ONE. The information is available all over the net. And that is probably about as many as you will be able to find all over Africa.
Then show me ONE major industry in Africa that is owned and operated by blacks. Again, they are few and far between and probably only amount to a handful.
And another article:
quote: Why does Tanzania continue to be gripped by poverty?
2007-03-11 09:18:21 By Neema Sitta
Tanzania remains extremely poor, forty-five years after independence.
It lags behind all her neighbours; Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda in terms of GDP (total value of the annual output of goods and services: excludes the foreign output of domestic firms and includes the domestic output of foreign firms.)
According to the current statistics from the World Bank, 2006 Report, Tanzania GDP was $ 800 last year, Uganda was $1, 800, Kenya $ 1, 200 and Rwanda, a landlocked country with poor resource had GDP of $ 1,600 twice of that of Tanzania.
Rwanda has been hailed by international community for its substantial progress in stabilizing and rehabilitating its economy to pre 1994 genocide levels.
Its economy has been growing and its GDP continues to multiply following political stability in the country.
The United Nations (2006) report on human development published early this year, has also mentioned Tanzania as one of the poorest nations on earth, placed the country on the bottom of the list, 47 out of 50 poor nations.
Tanzania is a rich resource country with almost every God given natural resources, raw materials, mining and sources of water. Tanzania is rich in gold, diamond, and the only country blessed for the most valuable stone in the Hollywood nowadays, Tanzanite.
Tanzania is not a landlocked country, which cuts cost for export and import of goods through our sources of water; the Indian ocean, the second world largest fresh water body, lake Victoria, and the second world deepest body of water, lake Tanganyika.
Forty five years after independence, Tanzania continues to depend heavily on agriculture, which accounts for about half of the GDP, about 82 percent of country export and 80 percent of the work force.
In this 21st century of science and technology, Tanzanians still lack any form of agricultural revolution, revolution that would have improved farming tools and introduced new farming technologies and hence increase productivity.
Local farmers continue to depend on a simple structure to cultivate the land, a hoe.
In a country that is heavily depended on agriculture for its survival and export of goods, why has it taken the government too long to upgrade and improve farming equipment used by local farmers?
How many more decades will the government need to introduce some form of agricultural revolution, which will not only improve productivity, but also standard of living, as farmers will have enough for the market and themselves.
It is time that the government introduces a national agricultural subsidy program.
If developed countries continue to provide farm subsidies to their farmers, big and small, why is it that our government has no program to provide fertilizers, improved seeds, insecticides and modern technologies for our farmers?
If we have failed in the manufacturing industry, in science and technology, the government has no option, but to create an environment that will promote sustainable agricultural revolution throughout the country for the sake of our economy and people of Tanzania.
Tanzania manufacturing industry and mining industry, both combined, contributed less than 13 percent of GDP last year, according to the official government website.
Manufacturing industry contributed only 9 percent of the GDP, with mining contributing only 3.5 percent of the GDP.
With the current climate changes and the very unpredictable rain season in the country each year, it is awfully hard to tell where Tanzania is heading.
When most developed countries have moved away from agriculture to manufacturing industry and technologies, how is Tanzania going to catch up with the rest of the world when manufacturing industry still counts for less than 10 percent of the GDP, with technologies counting for 0 percent of the GDP?
How much time and under what pace this country will need to reverse the pattern of national economy?
When will we be able to compete with Botswana mining industry, where gold alone accounts for more than 33 percent of the GDP?
Or when will we be able to compete with Namibia mining industry, which accounts for 20 percent of GDP?
Botswana and Namibia process own mining, does Tanzania has anything to learn from these countries?
Besides HIV/ AIDS pandemic in Botswana, the country has been hailed by the international community and international institutions as the most progressive in Africa with sound economic policies.
Botswana is a mid income country, with GDP of $11, 200.
Last year Botswana exported goods and services totalling $ 4.8 billion, while imported goods and services totalled $3.0 billion.
Namibia is another good example of an African country that has done wonderfully in the national economy.
Last year, Namibia GDP was $ 7,400 which is pretty high by African standards.
If Botswana and Namibia can do this, what excuses does Tanzania have?
It is true that Tanzania has made some progress in the past few years, but you cannot deny the fact that the current economic growth has yet to benefit the poor.
Many international reports have indicated that Tanzania continues to be poor with declining standards of living. Economic disparities continue to widen up the gap between the rich and the poor.
The haves and the have nots have become a symbol of Tanzania, with many citizens losing hope for the future.
Standards of living have continued to decline, with this year inflation hitting the poor very badly and there is still no sign of light at the end of the tunnel.
More than 36 percent of the Tanzanian population still lives below poverty line, with life expectancy remaining at 44 for men and 46 for women, according to UNDP�s 2005 Human development report.
Why is Tanzania still behind all East African Countries? Why should Tanzania continue to be poor? Why does it that standards of living have continued to decline?
Why is Uganda, a country that has had a share of political instabilities, produce twice the capacity of Tanzania?
Rwandan GDP, a landlocked country with poor and limited resources is twice of that in Tanzania?
Is there any explanation to justify for the lack of employment, development and the declining standards of living for Tanzanians?
Last year, Tanzanian revenue was $2.4 billion, but spending was more than $3.0 billion, a deficit of more than 600 million dollars.
Trade deficit was $ 1.38 billion, while imports totalled $ 1.8 billion, and exports totalled $ 3.18 billion.
What should the public expect from the current trend of developments in Tanzania?
What has been the role of the public in questioning the government about lack of real change in the lives of Tanzanians?
What has been the role of the media in making sure that the government is accountable to the public?
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