Slowly, steadily, the African National Congress delivering a better life for South Africans

Statement of the African National Congress on the increase of the black middle class    

The African National Congress welcomes the outcomes of the study by the UCT Unilever Institute of Strategic Marketing indicating that the black middle class in South Africa has more than doubled in the last five years. According to the study, the black middle class has risen from 1.7 million people in 2004 to 4.2 million in 2012 (see here).

Following on the heels of a report by the Centre for Development and Enterprise that the number of graduates had more than doubled since 1995, these statistics are a clear indicator that socio-economic freedom in our lifetime is indeed achievable. The African National Congress celebrates the successes of our deliberate and decisive socio-economic transformation policies which are yielding results. While we still have much more to do together, we have no doubt that we continue to be on the right track. Greater focus should go into our continuing efforts to dismantle the apartheid economy, ensure greater redistribution of the wealth of the country and change the face of the commanding heights of our economy as demanded by the Freedom Charter.

Statement issued by Jackson Mthembu, ANC national spokesperson, April 30 2013

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