INTRODUCTION

Almost two decades since South Africa celebrated its political freedom, unemployment, poverty and inequality remain undeniably high. The dominant narrative by most South Africans is ‘awukho umsebenzi’ and ‘asinamali’ – there is no work and we do not have money. Formal wage employment has been declining (Nattrass 2000; Makgetla 2010; Mohamed 2010). Using the ‘narrow’ definition of unemployment (only those who are willing to work and actively searching), South Africa's unemployment rate was 24 per cent in 2010; using the ‘expanded’ definition (which includes those who are willing to work but too discouraged to search) the country's unemployment rate was a staggering 35.8 per cent. In Makgetla's (2010) analysis, which shows the gender, generational and racial profile of unemployment in South Africa, it is notably the African women and youth who are predominantly unemployed. The only work that has increased since 1994 is work in the informal economy (trading and manufacturing) and the unpaid work done at home, mostly by women. The most regular income has come from the state, through state social grants. The means-tested state income has, however, only benefitted a fraction of the poor and unemployed population of South Africa.

Unsurprisingly, then, economic emancipation for the majority has been elusive, with evidence of widening inequalities (Mbeki 2009; Seekings and Nattrass 2005; Terreblanche 2002). Using the gini-coefficient (to measure inequality), quantitative experts agree that between 1994 and 2010 there has been a steady rise of overall inequality in South Africa (Leibbrandt et al. 2009). There is also consensus that poverty levels (head count) have declined since 1994, mainly because of government's social grants (Agüero et al. 2007). The General Household Survey of 2010 estimated that 21.9 per cent of households have ‘inadequate or severely inadequate’ access to food, with female-headed households more likely to experience hunger. The recent population census shows that income inequality is racially skewed, with black households’ income far less than their white, coloured and Indian counterparts; for example, white households earned six times more than black households with more individuals per household (StatsSA Census 2012). Such a context presents challenges of thinking and theorising about gender identities, roles and dynamics in South Africa and especially for black households.