Violence will increase if poverty does not decrease

The miners who lived and were killed in Marikana, which is situated within the Rustenberg local municipality, died while protesting for better living conditions and higher wages. Most of them were from the Eastern Cape. 

Residents of Rustenberg fare better than those in some Eastern Cape municipalities in terms of
living conditions, but are worse off than the average South African. This is according to data from Statistics South Africa and the Gaffney Group.

Rustenberg local municipality has a poverty rate of 37%. Some 14% of households have no access to water, some 22% have no electricity, and 39% have no access to refuse removal services. Some 6% of households have no sanitation, meaning they use the bucket toilet system or other means. The proportion of households that do not live in formal housing is significant, at 49%.

Some 66% of those who were killed in the Marikana violence were from the Eastern Cape. Alfred Nzo district municipality, home to some of the miners, has a higher poverty rate than Rustenberg, at 83%. It is the poorest district municipality in the country. Some 68% of households have no access to water, while 66% have no electricity. Almost 95% of households do not get their refuse removed, and 30% have no sanitation. Less than 30% of households live in formal housing
structures.

In comparison, the average South African is better off. Some 11% of households in the country have no access to water, some 16% have no electricity, and 39% have no refuse removal services. The number of households who have no access to sanitation is higher than in Rustenberg but lower than in Alfred Nzo, at 8%. Less than a quarter of all households, at 23%, do not live in formal housing.

Most miners have two homes to take care of – one in Marikana and another elsewhere where their families live. Both homes, as the data suggests, are likely to be situated in municipalities that are not faring well in terms of access to basic services and employment opportunities. This is perhaps one of the reasons why some of the miners that died in the Marikana violence were prepared to risk their lives in an attempt to improve their living conditions, including those of their families.

18 years after the end of Apartheid, South Africa is still a country of insiders and outsiders. The insiders have access to jobs, income, skills and assets, but the excluded live in poverty, without skills and without jobs.

The DA has a plan to break down the barriers that keep so many locked out of opportunity. We plan to generate a dynamic economy that includes everyone. Our plan paves the way for a very different future: one of innovation, entrepreneurship, investment and growth.

That is why we are working for change, and working for jobs. The DA’s Growth and Jobs plan outlines how the DA will reduce poverty and create jobs by putting South Africa on a high-growth path. Our plan outlines how the DA will break down the barriers to opportunity by allowing an open and inclusive economy to develop in which each person has the skills and the resources to become a productive member of a dynamic, integrated and forward-looking society.

For more on the Working for Change, Working for Jobs campaign click here.