By Yanganani Gora
A University of Mpumalanga academic who is also a presidential economic advisory council member delivered a thought-provoking analysis on post-apartheid inequality during a Department of Political and International Studies teach-in at Rhodes University on Monday.
The four-day ‘Interrogating Inequality in Post-1994 South Africa’ event wraps at Africa’s Barratt 1 this afternoon (Friday).
Four academics from various South African universities are guest speakers at the teach-in.
Professor Vusi Gumede, the dean of the Faculty of Economics, Development and Business Sciences at the University of Mpumalanga, addressed the first gathering.
In his address, which was themed Reflections on inequalities in post-apartheid South Africa – possible solutions, Gumede touched on the high levels of inequality in South Africa even after 30 years of democracy.
Gumede argued that while the high level of inequality in South Africa is widely acknowledged, “there is a lack of consensus on why it remains so high”.
He emphasised that merely recognising the high levels of inequality is not helpful without fully understanding the nature of true disparities. For sufficient interventions to be implemented, Gumede calls for understanding the actual cause of inequality.
As an economist, Gumede believes that the reasons for inequality are closely linked to the economy. He noted that the economy has fallen short in creating sustainable jobs and has been performing below its potential.
The stagnation of the economy of South Africa and the underperformance of the economy have perpetuated existing inequalities.
Gumede also touched on the debate over whether race or class is the driving force for inequality. He acknowledged that race and class contribute, but was more interested in developing interventions.
However, his research did indicate that white households are higher bound in income than African households, which suggests that we are dealing with racialised inequality.
Gumede was critical of the approaches that had been previously used. He contends that social grants are not enough to tackle the issue of inequality.
He concluded by advocating for the development of social and economic policies, believing that it would be more impactful in addressing South Africans’ challenges.
On Tuesday, Dr Ujithra Ponniah, senior researcher at the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies at Wits University, tackled ‘Studying Up’:’Inequality ‘erspectives from the Global South while on Wednesday, Busisiwe Sibeko, an economist and researcher (PhD candidate SOAS-Wits Joint Programme) spoke on unemployment, poverty and inequality in SA.
Fiona Tregenna, professor of Economics and holder of the SARChI Chair in Industrial Development at the University of Johannesburg and a presidential economic advisory council member, concludes the teach-in this afternoon (Friday).
