Poor unlikely to escape poverty

Children born into poor families unlikely ever to escape poverty or reap the rewards of living in Africa’s largest economy even 18 years after the end of apartheid. A child’s gender and ethnicity at birth, combined with a lack of education, largely determines that person’s chances of success in life. Equally significant is the World Bank's observation that the richest 10 percent of South Africa account for 58 percent of the nation’s income, while the bottom 10 percent accounts for 0.5 percent.  The bottom half earns less than eight percent of the nation's income.

Sandeep Mahajan, who headed the World Bank report said "Our results show that a South African child not only has to work harder to overcome the disadvantages at birth due to circumstances, but having done so, finds that these re-emerge when seeking employment as an adult,"

Labour analyst Andrew Levy said "History has shown that societies that have emerged from any kind of unjust system of governance struggle with inequality," said Levy. But he added that the new government "could have done better".