Think thank the Institute for Race Relations (IRR) says in its report titled Life in South Africa: Reasons for Hope, progress in areas ranging from the economy to crime, education, healthcare and living standards makes it clear that South Africa is a much better place to live in today.
For example:
• Levels of extreme poverty have declined from around 50% in 2002 to about 20% today.
• Interest rates and bond yields are half of what they were 20 years ago.
• The number of people with jobs has doubled over the past two decades.
• The middle class has doubled in size.
• The number of doctors in the public sector has increased by almost 80% since 1994.
• The still-birth rate has fallen by over 20% since 2001.
• The proportion of university students who are African has increased from 19.8% in 1986 to 70.1% in 2014.
• The murder rate has halved since 1994.
• Ten formal houses have been built for every shack erected since 1994.
IRR CEO, Dr Frans Cronje says: “We have intentionally released this report during the current negative climate in order to remind South Africans that a lot has gone right since 1994”.
IRR research analyst and report author, John Bostock said; “IRR analysts continue to uncover progress in socio-economic areas that South Africans tend to associate with failure. Too few people are aware of the progress we have made as a country and, through this report, we hope to bring some balance back into national and media debates”.
