Quality of life in South Africa: the first ten years of democracy
- Authors: Moller, Valerie
- Date: 2007
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:7110 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010741
- Description: South Africa celebrated ten years of democracy in 2004. This special issue of Social Indicators Research (SIR) reviews developments that have impacted on the quality of life of ordinary South Africans during the transition period. The issue updates an earlier volume of SIR (Volume 41) published in 1997 and as a stand-alone volume. The earlier volume was initiated following SIR editor Alex Michalos’ first visit to South Africa. This update on quality of life in South Africa follows on his return visit to the country in 2004 to see firsthand the changes that had occured in the meantime. This introductory article outlines major achievements of and setbacks for the new democracy and the challenges facing it in future. It provides the backround for the evaluations of a range of quality of life domains and issues including poverty and inequality, crime, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, migration and housing, religiosity, reconciliation, and optimism for the future which are covered in the eleven articles that follow. The introduction divides the articles under the headings of challenges, achievements, monitoring quality of life, and social capital for the future. The overview article concludes that improvements in quality of life have been uneven but goodwill and a positive outlook bode well for South African quality of life in future.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Moller, Valerie
- Date: 2007
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:7110 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010741
- Description: South Africa celebrated ten years of democracy in 2004. This special issue of Social Indicators Research (SIR) reviews developments that have impacted on the quality of life of ordinary South Africans during the transition period. The issue updates an earlier volume of SIR (Volume 41) published in 1997 and as a stand-alone volume. The earlier volume was initiated following SIR editor Alex Michalos’ first visit to South Africa. This update on quality of life in South Africa follows on his return visit to the country in 2004 to see firsthand the changes that had occured in the meantime. This introductory article outlines major achievements of and setbacks for the new democracy and the challenges facing it in future. It provides the backround for the evaluations of a range of quality of life domains and issues including poverty and inequality, crime, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, migration and housing, religiosity, reconciliation, and optimism for the future which are covered in the eleven articles that follow. The introduction divides the articles under the headings of challenges, achievements, monitoring quality of life, and social capital for the future. The overview article concludes that improvements in quality of life have been uneven but goodwill and a positive outlook bode well for South African quality of life in future.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Satisfied and dissatisfied South Africans: results from the General Household Survey in international comparison
- Authors: Moller, Valerie
- Date: 2007
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:7112 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010744
- Description: Who are the satisfied South Africans 10 years into democracy? How do material factors contribute to their life satisfaction? These are the questions addressed in this paper. Earlier South African research has consistently found a close positive relationship between life satisfaction and material standards of living in the apartheid and post-apartheid era. Recently, a new source of information has become available to shed further light on the association between material and subjective well-being. In 2002, Statistics South Africa, the country’s official source of statistical information, agreed to ask South Africans participating in the General Household Survey whether they were satisfied or dissatisfied with life. The 2002 General Household Survey (n26’000) used a measure developed for the Euromodule that allows for international comparison. The wide-ranging information contained in South Africa’s official household survey offers a unique opportunity to explore what makes for satisfied and dissatisfied South Africans in relation to their material living standards. Results indicate that the improved living standards afforded to many black South Africans under democracy are associated with increases in life satisfaction. Furthermore, habituation does not appear to have diluted the positive relationship between living standards and well-being. However, political factors continue to play an important role in shaping subjective well-being. In conclusion, it is argued that material gains might also have restored the pride and dignity denied to black South Africans in the past.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Moller, Valerie
- Date: 2007
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:7112 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010744
- Description: Who are the satisfied South Africans 10 years into democracy? How do material factors contribute to their life satisfaction? These are the questions addressed in this paper. Earlier South African research has consistently found a close positive relationship between life satisfaction and material standards of living in the apartheid and post-apartheid era. Recently, a new source of information has become available to shed further light on the association between material and subjective well-being. In 2002, Statistics South Africa, the country’s official source of statistical information, agreed to ask South Africans participating in the General Household Survey whether they were satisfied or dissatisfied with life. The 2002 General Household Survey (n26’000) used a measure developed for the Euromodule that allows for international comparison. The wide-ranging information contained in South Africa’s official household survey offers a unique opportunity to explore what makes for satisfied and dissatisfied South Africans in relation to their material living standards. Results indicate that the improved living standards afforded to many black South Africans under democracy are associated with increases in life satisfaction. Furthermore, habituation does not appear to have diluted the positive relationship between living standards and well-being. However, political factors continue to play an important role in shaping subjective well-being. In conclusion, it is argued that material gains might also have restored the pride and dignity denied to black South Africans in the past.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
South Africa’s new democrats : a 2002 profile of democracy in the making
- Authors: Moller, Valerie , Hanf, T
- Date: 2007
- Language: English
- Type: Book , text
- Identifier: vital:539 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010768
- Description: [From the introduction]: South Africa’s dramatic conversion to democracy has been heralded as a modern-day miracle. In former Nobel peace prize winner Archbishop Tutu’s words, it was ‘touch and go’ whether all conflicting parties would participate in the first non-racial elections in April 1994. The ‘rainbow nation’, as the new South Africa liked to call itself in the first years of democracy, was heralded as a beacon of hope and enlightenment for Africa and the world. Since 1994, South Africa has successfully conducted two further national elections that have been declared essentially free and fair. The country has emerged as a leading representative of the economic and political interests of developing countries and the South in the international arena. The question is whether living under democracy has influenced the manner in which South Africans see themselves, their country and the world around them. This report seeks to document how South Africans think and feel some eight years into democracy about issues that are important in their own lives and have significance for the future of their society. The study covers personal experiences, attitudes and beliefs, and the aspirations and fears of ordinary people. It seeks to identify the sentiments and collective experiences that may contribute to or hinder the consolidation of democracy in years to come. The report is based on an inquiry conducted in March 2002 among over two thousand South African adults over 16 years of age in a nationally representative MarkData survey that included all regions of the country. , Lettres de Byblos / Letters from Byblos. A series of occasional papers published by UNESCO Centre International des Sciences de l’Homme International Centre for Human Sciences
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Moller, Valerie , Hanf, T
- Date: 2007
- Language: English
- Type: Book , text
- Identifier: vital:539 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1010768
- Description: [From the introduction]: South Africa’s dramatic conversion to democracy has been heralded as a modern-day miracle. In former Nobel peace prize winner Archbishop Tutu’s words, it was ‘touch and go’ whether all conflicting parties would participate in the first non-racial elections in April 1994. The ‘rainbow nation’, as the new South Africa liked to call itself in the first years of democracy, was heralded as a beacon of hope and enlightenment for Africa and the world. Since 1994, South Africa has successfully conducted two further national elections that have been declared essentially free and fair. The country has emerged as a leading representative of the economic and political interests of developing countries and the South in the international arena. The question is whether living under democracy has influenced the manner in which South Africans see themselves, their country and the world around them. This report seeks to document how South Africans think and feel some eight years into democracy about issues that are important in their own lives and have significance for the future of their society. The study covers personal experiences, attitudes and beliefs, and the aspirations and fears of ordinary people. It seeks to identify the sentiments and collective experiences that may contribute to or hinder the consolidation of democracy in years to come. The report is based on an inquiry conducted in March 2002 among over two thousand South African adults over 16 years of age in a nationally representative MarkData survey that included all regions of the country. , Lettres de Byblos / Letters from Byblos. A series of occasional papers published by UNESCO Centre International des Sciences de l’Homme International Centre for Human Sciences
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
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