Race and politics distract us from the issue of inequality

Mail & Guardian

25-06-2025

The black middle class in South Africa has grown, but much of the inequality in the country remains the same. (File photo)
In a recent conversation on the
It sparked the question of whether South Africa is having a class struggle framed as a race one. Exploring the idea of deception and false victories, requires unpacking how the issue might be incorrectly diagnosed.
One apparent fact in South Africa is that the memory of apartheid is disappearing for many in the new generation — Born Frees — who only know the country as a democracy in the hands of the ANC.
Nelson Mandela is transformed into a myth, taught to young children, a man with a greater dream and vision for South Africa — derailed by ANC factionalism, corruption and state capture. The feel-good moments of hosting the 2010 Soccer World Cup and embodying the Rainbow Nation have been shut out.
The question is: what has become of South Africa?
So-called radical politics returned, initially in the form of Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema, claiming to want to transform the economy and return the wealth of this country to the black majority — a narrative that intertwined race and the economy in ways the ANC had done before.
But what has become known as black economic empowerment (BEE) and broad-based black economic empowerment, is seen to uplift only an elite few. It is a recognition of the potential stagnation of policies many had believed in during the ANC's early years in government. Second, it highlighted South Africa's inability to shake off inequality.
Looking forward to the current state of politics, uMkhonto weSizwe party, led by former president and member of the ANC, Jacob Zuma, has styled itself as a strongly 'black party', aiming to unite black 'leftist' forces in the country.
It wanted many of the same things as the EFF — nationalisation and pushing for the abolishment of the Constitution and the implementation of a constitution without codified law, according to their manifesto.
The aim was to end the system as a whole, as well as implement the same expropriation aims introduced by the EFF.
Have these parties muddled the lies of capital and race? At the core of the fight for South Africa, and the question of how to move forward after 30 years of liberation, it raises the question: has race been the distraction the whole time?
It is important to highlight that 1994 marked liberation and victory for the ANC. The next task was to govern. Walking with the legacy of Mandela and the power of liberation in South Africa, governance and economic management fell to the wayside.
With the implementation of the Growth, Employment and Redistribution policy and BEE in the Mbeki administration, questions were being raised about ways to redress inequality. With a slow system of wealth transfer, it was expanded to broad-based BEE, further widening the social net for beneficiaries and participation in South Africa.
The black middle class in South Africa grew but much of the inequality in the country remains the same. Particularly looking at recent data — two ANC presidents after the policies were at the peak of their effectiveness — while black people have outnumbered white people in the richest 10% of the population for about seven years, the gap between South Africa's richest and poorest hasn't narrowed.
The decline in racial inequality has been driven almost entirely by a surge in top incomes by black people, rather than increased wealth for the poorest, according to World Inequality Lab data. BEE, according to estimates, benefits about 15% of the black population in South Africa — a small group. Although progress, is it progress enough?
Even exploring the land transfers since 1994, academics Wandile Sihlobo and Johann Kirsten, both experts on agriculture, have estimated that about 20% of freehold farmland owned by white farmers in 1994 has passed into black hands, either through government programmes or private purchases. This shows progress, yet not at the rate other constituents would deem necessary.
What is true is that progress has been made in South Africa and that there are black South Africans occupying top management positions. There are many who are beneficiaries of BEE schemes but the systemic inequality in South Africa remains the same. Instead of it being a class issue, it has become a race and political issue.
Politicians disagreed about the mechanism and speed at which transformation was to take place in the country. No different from the Azanian People's Organisation and the Pan Africanist Congress pre-1994, which argued for reclamation of the land in many of the same ways that are spoken about now.
The messaging has been lost in claims and attacks on white capital, arguments over struggle anthems and disagreement about legislation deemed to be race-based, distracting from the core issue — South Africa is an unequal country.
Holding the highest Gini coefficient in the world at 0.67, and with unemployment standing at 32.9%, it is apparent that there is a drastic need for a solution. There is no forgetting human suffering.
Everyone is quick to cite the Covid-19 pandemic, but quick to forget the shared humanity that was needed to carry a world that was lost, confused and frightened through this dark time. South Africans cannot be oblivious to our growing problem.
Soon, politicians face the need for pragmatic solutions. Personal politics undermines the problem on the ground. Similarly, the fights in the government — through legal disagreements and calculated use of the media — continue to throw the country into disillusionment. Politicians fight over a shrinking economy and hone in on race politics and the history of the past; they get distracted. They over-explain themselves time and time again without offering solutions.
The issue in South Africa is silently growing under the noise of political infighting and politicians competing for airtime. South Africa's problem lies in the fact that liberation might have been announced but the inequality has gone unaddressed.
Remember Morrison's words: 'The very serious function of racism is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being.'
Suddenly, race in South Africa seems more prevalent than ever. What work is being done?
Khumo Kumalo is the founder of the website Misunderstood, which unpacks social, identity and economic issues in South Africa, and a student at Morehouse College, studying political science. He is the host of the Born Free podcast. He is also a
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