Inequality Perceptions in South Africa: An Investigation

South Africa is viewed as economically the most unequal country in the world according to its Gini coefficient score. Such inequality poses a threat to the quality of life of people and the political stability in a country. This inequality relates to the South African double economy. On the one hand is an advanced economy employing high skilled workers and on the other hand an underdeveloped economy consisting of low-skilled jobs. Generally South Africa’s income and expenditure information is quite dated. Studies on the perceptions of the population of South African on their unequal situation is rare. This paper therefore contributes to knowledge on this matter by analysing the Human Sciences Research Council South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS) 2020. The survey was conducted among 3032 sampled respondents representative of the larger population. Interviews started before the Covid-19 virus lockdown in 2020 and was completed in 2021 after the lockdown was lifted. The analysis of the data will focus on how the respondents evaluated their socio-economic status and how this relates to gender, race, age and a variety of other relevant variables. This is interpreted by means of insights by Thomas Piketty and ideas of theorists responding to him as well as the network and interpretation theories. The network theory highlights the role of small-world character and homophily of the networks, as well as individual perceptions in inequality perceptions. The interpretation theory looks at the cues people use to evaluate the perceived inequality of people. This paper presents therefore a unique perspective on inequality views in South Africa and contributes to knowledge about it.