1. SA’s population: An overview
• Estimated pop in mid 2010 as 49.99
million
• Races : 79.3% black, 9.1% white, 9.0 %
Coloured, 2.6% Indian
• Sex: imbalance, with 52% female

2. Overview
• ISSUES:
– Immigrants (illegal vs
legal)
- Age: White
population is an
AGING one....
• Fertility rates are
declining....
• More women than
men – why?

3. Age and life expectancy
• Some segments of SA’s
population are aging: White
and (slowly) Indian population
groups.
• BUT: Overall the average life
expectancy is declining: men=
53.3 to 49 and women = 55.2
to 50.
• HIV: 11% of the population is
infected. Esp high levels in the
15 to 35 age group.
• Crime and the murder rate
• More people are murdered
than killed in car accidents...

4. Youth and dependency
• SA has a youthful
population.
– 31.4% under the age
of 15.
– 7.5% over 60
– Roughly 20 million are
dependents (not able
to work). This is a
LARGE dependency
ratio.
High infant mortality rate
(45.7 per 1000)

5. Population distribution
• Natural Resources:
mining (gold, coal,
platinum, diamonds)
• Historical factors:
Cape Town, Durban,
Pretoria.
• Water: Dry western
half of SA, wetter
eastern half.
• Economics: Gauteng,
W. Cape and KZN

6. Movement within SA
• Great deal of internal
migration:
– Exit the Eastern Cape,
Limpopo
– Move to Gauteng, KZN and
Western Cape
– Reasons:
• Job opportunities
• Poor service delivery
• Medical care
• Educational institutions,
esp tertiary.

7. The welfare state
• Relative to population size, SA
is the LARGEST welfare state
in the world.
• 13 million receive welfare
payments:
– Child grants, pensions,
disability grants.
BUT: we have only 5.2 million
tax payers.
31% of our population is on
welfare, 10.6% pay tax.
And we are planning to add
more – child grants to 18,
old age pensions for men
aged 60.

8. Language:
• 24% claim IsiZulu as
home language.
• 18% IsiXhosa
• BUT: English is
becoming a dominant
language in South
Africa:
– Business and trade
– Culture
– Politics
– Science