s that were steadily growing. One of the difficult problems that the new government faced was a struggling economy and a level of income too low to sustain a large portion of the population. “Without economic growth the chances of a successful transition [to democracy] are rather slim” and thus the emerging South African government faced a daunting task (Esterhuyse 23). According to surveys at the time, 40% of the black population in South Africa in the early nineties were unemployed. Five percent of the population controlled 88% of the wealth, and 60% of the black population that were employed did not make a sufficient amount of money to maintain a minimum subsistence (“Social Conditions” 2). South Africa faced a serious problem as it moved towards democracy, the majority of its citizens were not able to provide for themselves and the economy was destined to crash. One solution that was proposed was to increase taxes dramatically on those who were well off, but this would have lead to a decrease in productivity (“Living Standards” 2). South Africa, before it abolished apartheid, suffered economic sanctions from almost every country in the world in addition to the refusal of the World Bank and the IMF to lend it any money until it changed its laws. The economy was slowly dying and causing a potentially explosive problem for the future if something was not done soon (“Social Conditions” 1). South Africa faced a dilemma over what to do about the disparity between the classes. In order to provide equal services for blacks and whites following the elections, the government would have to increase its budget for black health care and pensions fivefold. After all new expenditures are added into the total percent of GDP spent on the public would rise from 10% in 1992 to 31% in 1994 (“Living Standards” 3). South Africa’s economy was not capable of handling this, but in order to ma...
