The causes of unemployment in post - apartheid Johannesburg and the livelihood strategies of the poor

Central to the increase in urban poverty in the post-apartheid period is the rise in unemployment, and this provides our point of departure. In the first section of the paper we show how, although Johannesburg and its environs constitute the industrial and commercial heartland of South Africa, it is a city that has not reached its potential economic development. Having outlined the causes and dimensions of the sluggish economic position we move to consider how the poor survive in Johannesburg through both economic and non-economic strategies. With this in mind we then argue that addressing the current situation of growing poverty and inequality (as well as redressing the legacy of past inequities) requires broad municipal response to urban unemployment. Instead of the current tendency to view poverty simply as the product of income and consumption deprivation, a more broadly defined response to urban poverty reduction based on a livelihoods framework is proposed.