Context Description
Drawing from its engagements, processes and experiences ESSET has developed a characterization of the current social, economic and ecclesiastical context.
The key observations relevant to ESSET’s work are:
We have a 'cappuccino economy'
Foundations of the ‘apartheid economy’ remain intact. The majority of black people remain at the bottom of the economic cup; a mixed middle class consisting occupies the middle part; whites are the cream at the top; and a sprinkling of BEE moguls are like flakes on top of the cream.
- There is persisting poverty and inequalities in the economic life of the country despite moderate economic growth since 1994. This situation subsists because of the country’s economic trajectory that unjustly and falsely divides the economy into first and second spheres with the latter treated as a dispensable fodder for the former.
- Economic policy making and praxis is elitist and that excludes those in the margins from articulating their experiences and aspirations. At all levels of society policy is determined by and biased towards the social, political and economic elite. Attempts to increase this voice are thwarted by the fragmentation in the communities of the poor; inadequate mobilisation and lack of relevant human and other resources
Capacity of Civil Society
- There are fewer civil society organisations, including the church community, who are in solidarity with communities struggling for the improvement of their living conditions and access to livelihoods. In most instances the church finds comfort in assuaging the effects of poverty and inequality rather than seeking to uproot the causes thereof.
- Civil society, churches and communities do not adequately understand the complexities of the current situation and are therefore unable to develop to appropriate responses and engagement strategies. Adding to this is the diminishing skills base in the sector that is made worse by the migration of people into the public and private sector where working conditions are better.
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