The Persistence of Inequality in Post-apartheid South Africa 1994 – 2023

Abstract

South Africa is a worldwide nation known for its legacy with colonialism and the historical period of racial segregation enforced by the government of South Africa from 1948 to 1994 – the Apartheid. This was officially abolished, but the lives of South Africans went on nearly in the same way. This dissertation, thus, aims to reveal the unequal environment that most South Africans have experienced despite the establishment of the new democracy in 1994. This will be achieved by shedding the light on the disparities in the context of politics, economy, education, health care, and other basic services that are linked to the nation’s long time history. Therefore, this historical work, both descriptive and analytical, provides a comprehensive background about the history of South Africa, revisiting colonialism, and slavery under the Dutch and the British Empire. Moreover, it addresses the apartheid system and the inequalities underpinned by its policies, highlighting how the nation had overthrown and condemned this unfair system to long for a new democratic state. Ironically, the post-Apartheid agents are maintaining those disparities among South Africans, instead of bridging the divides created by the Apartheid and deeply rooted among them.