Gritty Details

"Wars of nations are fought to change maps. But wars of poverty are fought to map change."

Muhammad Ali


As much as I just want to write about lions and cheetahs and mountains and 70 degree weather, I feel like I am obligated to research some of the less pleasant aspects of South Africa. I already touched upon the AIDS epidemic, so I'm not going to return to that. Rather, today I think I'll talk about poverty. But to speak plainly, it's hard for me to imagine or even to speak properly of poverty. I am a white, upper middle-class American college student who has hardly left the midwest. I have never wanted for anything, nor have I experienced hunger, or homelessness, or untreated disease. So when I write this entry, I want to make it very clear that I have no idea of what I write. To me, they are just facts, because I cannot even imagine the reality of some of these numbers and figures. When I go to South Africa, I think the reality check will be the biggest culture shock I will experience while I'm there, but one that is necessary. You can't live in a bubble forever. 

South Africa has several distinct aspects of poverty(www.ngopulse.org), according to a 2006 report:

1) 47.1% of the population consumed less than the "lower-bound" poverty line, which means that 47.1% of the population did not have enough money for essential food and non-food items. 

2) The poverty rates of South Africa's nine provinces differ greatly, as do those of the urban and rural areas. As of 2006, poverty rates ranged from 24.9% in Gauteng to 64.4% in Limpopo. Furthermore, the three provinces with the highest poverty rates (KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, and Limpopo) are relatively populous, so it's not surprising that 60% of poor individuals lived in one of these three provinces.

I know it's low quality, but the red indicates high poverty rates

3) The incidence of poverty in much higher in rural areas despite the fact that rural areas housed much less than 1/2 the population.

4)As a reflection of South Africa's past apartheid policy, the incidence of poverty among black and coloured individuals remained dramatically higher than that among whites.

5) There is a major difference in poverty rate according to gender. Almost twice as many female-headed households lived below the "lower-bound" poverty line when compared to male-headed households.

6) While 2/3 of South Africa's poorest have electricity, less than half have piped water. 

7) Education is a major factor in poverty. Poverty affected more than 60% of those who had no schooling and about 60% of those who had not completed primary schooling. On the other hand, poverty levels for those who obtained post-matric degree or a dimplma/degree are under 5%

The good news is that things are not going downhill. According to a 2009 study, 22% of the population lives below the internationally recognized poverty line. This is better than the 2006 number of 44%, but it is still a staggering number. I wanted to compare this to the US's poverty level, and was surprised to find that according to the U.S Census Bureau, American's poverty rate is 15%. The poverty rate is slowly improving, as far as I can understand, with the still-young democracy's financial budgets and plans. Improving the poverty rate remains a major focus of South African policies.

Gini Coefficient of National Income Distribution: The Gini coefficient measures the inequality among values of a frequency distribution (for example levels of income). A Gini coefficient of zero expresses perfect equality where all values are the same (for example, where everyone has an exactly equal income). A Gini coefficient of one (100 on the percentile scale) expresses maximal inequality among values (for example where only one person has all the income). Black indicates that the Gini coefficient is greater than .60, which means that there is great inequality in South Africa's wealth distribution. 

CHEETAH TIME!

To lighten the mood a little, I've decided to make today's fact all about why the cheetah has stained cheeks (According to folk legend, at least).

WHY THE CHEETAH'S CHEEKS ARE STAINED (A TRADITIONAL ZULU TALE)

"Kwasuka sukela...."

Long ago a wicked and lazy hunter was sitting under a tree. He was thinking that it was too hot to be bothered with the arduous task of stalking prey through the bushes. Below him in the clearing on the grassy veld there were fat springbok grazing. But this hunter couldn't be bothered, so lazy was he! He gazed at the herd, wishing that he could have the meat without the work, when suddenly he noticed a movement off to the left of the buck. It was a female cheetah seeking food. Keeping downwind of the herd, she moved closer and closer to them. She singled out a springbok who had foolishly wandered away from the rest. Suddenly she gathered her long legs under her and sprang forward. With great speed she came upon the springbok and brought it down. Startled, the rest of the herd raced away as the cheetah quickly killed her prey.

The hunter watched as the cheetah dragged her prize to some shade on the edge of the clearing. There three beautiful cheetah cubs were waiting there for her. The lazy hunter was filled with envy for the cubs and wished that he could have such a good hunter provide for him. Imagine dining on delicious meat every day without having to do the actual hunting! Then he had a wicked idea. He decided that he would steal one of the cheetah cubs and train it to hunt for him. He decided to wait until the mother cheetah went to the waterhole late in the afternoon to make his move. He smiled to himself.

When the sun began to set, the cheetah left her cubs concealed in a bush and set off to the waterhole. Quickly the hunter grabbed his spear and trotted down to the bushes where the cubs were hidden. There he found the three cubs, still to young to be frightened of him or to run away. He first chose one, then decided upon another, and then changed his mind again. Finally he stole them all, thinking to himself that three cheetahs would undoubtedly be better than one.

When their mother returned half-an-hour later and found her babies gone, she was broken-hearted. The poor mother cheetah cried and cried until her tears made dark stains down her cheeks. She wept all night and into the next day. She cried so loudly that she was heard by an old man who came to see what the noise was all about.

Now this old man was wise and knew the ways of the animals. When he discovered what the wicked hunter had done, he became very angry. The lazy hunter was not only a thief, he had broken the traditions of the tribe. Everyone knew that a hunter must use only his own strength and skill. Any other way of hunting was surely a dishonour.

The old man returned to the village and told the elders what has happened. The villagers became angry. They found the lazy hunter and drove him away from the village. The old man took the three cheetah cubs back to their grateful mother. But the long weeping of the mother cheetah stained her face forever. Today the cheetah wears the tearstains on its face as a reminder to the hunters that it is not honourable to hunt in any other way than that which is traditional.