By Isobel

Levels of poverty and inequality in South Africa are unacceptably high, whether from a perspective of economic sustainability, social justice, or adherence to the Constitutional imperative of dignity and equality before the law for all.

It has been a bit of a bad news period for poverty and inequality. On November 21, Statistics South Africa advised that unemployment has continued to grow and is currently the highest it has been since 2003, and that includes the worst spikes of the global financial crisis period.  Also on the 21st was the launch of the Children’s Institute’s SA Child Gauge, which indicates that 63% of children live below a minimalist monthly poverty line.