Poverty in South Africa in general has not
declined since 1994, and it is particularly severe in the former
Bantustans. This paper discusses two important issues related to rural
poverty in the Eastern Cape Province. It questions the applicability of
the notion of legacy to explain recent trends in rural poverty and
constructs an argument that explains these trends in relation to
post-1994 segregationism. It argues that the notion of legacy is not
useful in explaining why rural poverty remains entrenched, long after
1994. Rural poverty today cannot be explained as something left behind
after the end of apartheid, because its causes and drivers are the same
now in 2012 as they were in 1970. The continuity between the pre- and
post-1994 periods is best described by exploring and understanding
post-1994 policy decisions and power configurations as an expression of
contemporary segregationism.
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