Cape Town's African poor

The typical ‘face of poverty’ in South Africa is no longer that of a rural woman engaged in subsistence agricultural production. Poverty today also refers to the large number of unemployed men who wait daily in vain on street corners for a casual job, women suffering from among the highest rates of HIV/Aids infection in the world, large numbers of children living in areas with among the highest crime and murder rates in the world, and poor black communities which continue to be excluded from the economic riches of our country. We can no longer ignore the problem of urban poverty. A large part of Cape Town’s less affluent population live on the Cape Flats, which was relatively unpopulated until the 1960s. Since then, two waves of settlement took place: the period after the 1960s saw the forceful resettlement of so-called ‘Coloured’ people through apartheid socio-spatial engineering, and in the 1980s a then illegal process of large-scale African migration from the impoverished areas of the Eastern Cape began (see Hindson 1987; Tomlinson & Addleson 1987). Numerous studies (see Swilling et al. 1991, for example) demonstrate how the combined effects of social engineering, spatial planning and rural-urban migration have contributed to urban sprawl, the expansion of racialised economic geographies, and the creation of an apartheid city. At present, the townships of Khayelitsha and Greater Nyanga are home to three quarters of a million people. The uniqueness of Cape Town’s urban sprawl is not restricted to its recent and rapid population growth, but also lies in the fact that it reflects a nexus of extremes (DBSA 1998; O’Leary et al. 1998). Cape Town has a strong and relatively varied economy with a monocentric structure, characteristic of South African cities. In a typical centre-periphery fashion, it represents a polarised city centre where affluent suburbs and economic activity present a contrast to the overcrowded, impoverished township periphery (Myonjo & Theron 2003a; 2003b). Whereas the majority of white and wealthy black people live opulent lifestyles, the majority of those on the Cape Flats live in abject poverty. This paper seeks to gain a greater understanding of the socio-economic realities and livelihood challenges facing the residents of Khayelitsha and Greater Nyanga

A sociological analysis of gender in Marxist theory

In this study I argue that Marxism has payed far too little attention to the influence of the gender division of labour on social structure. Consequently, Marxism has been unable to place women's exploitation within a general framework of exploitation, objectification and domination. In an attempt to overcome this shortcoming, I critically analyse the interaction of "labour" and "gender" within the structural framework of a contemporary capitalist patriarchal industrial society. My analysis is carried out within a materialist research tradition. I focus on the domestic mode of reproduction and production and analyse the gender division of labour in this mode. For this purpose I assess different theories of gender creation and the influence of mother-monopolized childrearing on gender creation and on the social structure in general. In working with the interaction of "labour" and "gender" I address the possibility of a gender-class analysis. For this purpose I reformulate the Marxist interpretation of the interaction between labour power, surplus value, exchange value and use value. I also assess the contribution of the wages-for-housework debate to a gender-class analysis. Finally I argue that "gender" makes a fundamental contribution to a possible understanding of the interrelation of exploitation, objectification and domination in a contemporary capitalist patriarchal industrial society

Urban poverty in Cape Town

This paper describes key findings of a household livelihood survey conducted in impoverished African settlements in Cape Town, one of Africa’s wealthiest cities. Poverty in these areas is strongly shaped by the history of the Eastern Cape’s adverse spatial incorporation into the South African economy. Migrants from the rural areas are highly dependent on and integrated into the increasingly monetized economy – but are simultaneously marginalized and adversely incorporated within it. Survey findings show the costs and implications of this failure of the formal economy to provide adequate livelihoods. While many eke out a living in a vital yet marginal informal economy, these strategies are thoroughly linked to and dependent on the income that can be secured through participation in the formal job market. Those who are unable to find a foothold in the urban economy are highly vulnerable and are at risk of being confined to long-term poverty traps

Perceptions of informal safety nets: A case study from a South African informal settlement

The relevance and importance of informal safety nets that buffer poor households from livelihood hardships have been given little attention in South Africa's development programmes to date. This article contributes to the understanding of informal safety nets by investigating local perceptions in a South African informal settlement. The main findings of the study are that families perform an important safety net function, but that these sources of assistance can be susceptible to social isolation. Immediate neighbours and friends also play an important safety net role, but these reciprocal-based sources of assistance may be difficult to secure. Community-wide threats can have a severe impact on people's ability to engage in safety net transfers. Many of these difficulties stem from South Africa's structural unemployment crisis. This factor is the greatest danger to the future of the informal safety net system in the informal settlement.

Informe global de la corrupción 2006: Corrupción y salud

Este informe presenta una selección de estudios sobre transparencia y corrupción que abarcan desde la relación de la corrupción con los fenómenos socioeconómicos hasta los vínculos entre implementación de políticas y cambios. El punto de partida es el análisis empírico de la corrupción que, en la actualidad, ha logrado una posición firme en un gran número de disciplinas de investigación. El acceso a esta información resulta imprescindible para comprender mejor el campo de la corrupción y permite a los responsables de formular políticas interpretar e incorporar resultados en sus iniciativas anticorrupción

Informe global de la corrupción 2006: Corrupción y salud

Este informe presenta una selección de estudios sobre transparencia y corrupción que abarcan desde la relación de la corrupción con los fenómenos socioeconómicos hasta los vínculos entre implementación de políticas y cambios. El punto de partida es el análisis empírico de la corrupción que, en la actualidad, ha logrado una posición firme en un gran número de disciplinas de investigación. El acceso a esta información resulta imprescindible para comprender mejor el campo de la corrupción y permite a los responsables de formular políticas interpretar e incorporar resultados en sus iniciativas anticorrupción