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South Africa’s Black Economic Empowerment Creates More Poor Whites

South Africa’s Black Economic Empowerment Creates More Poor Whites

Poor white South Africans are blaming the Black Empowerment policy of their government for pushing whites out of jobs and creating a new class of ‘poor white people’.  In what has been termed as ‘Reverse Apartheid’ in South Africa that favor blacks in hiring and government opportunities, more and more white people are falling into the poverty trap due to lack of opportunities.

“In the past apartheid years it was white people’s turn to put them (blacks) down. Now it’s their turn to put us down,” Patronila Cazmeer told World Focus.

After a visit to the white poor settlement in 2009 before he became president Jacob Zuma, then chairman of the ruling party Africa National Congress, told a press conference: “I was very keen as one of those who believe that all South Africans should live in harmony. There must be no South African who must be in poverty. Whether white or black or yellow,” Zuma, before he became president in 2009.

But even after five years of Zuma’s rule the number of white poor has continued to increase as shown in this video by Peace Field Films. Researchers now estimate some 450,000 whites, of a total white population of 4.5 million, live below the poverty line and 100,000 are struggling just to survive in South Africa.