In South Africa, poverty is not only an economic condition but is also often experienced as a social stigma. For many people living in low-income communities, being poor can translate into discrimination, criminalisation, and unequal access to opportunities. From policing practices and service delivery to employment and education, poverty frequently shapes how individuals are treated by institutions and society at large.
Beyond material deprivation lies a deeper, often less visible issue: classism — the ways in which people are judged, excluded, or marginalised based on their economic status. In many cases, this exclusion is systemic rather than incidental, reinforcing long-standing inequalities.
Urban sociologist and author Leslie Dikeni argues that class inequality in South Africa cannot be understood without historical context.
“There are systematic issues in the first place. Number two, we cannot separate history from that. Our history — the history of apartheid, colonialism, and racism — means that the social classes we refer to today were constructed historically. They are not just existing in space. We cannot disconnect that history from the present because context is important when analysing social class dynamics in South Africa.”
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Meanwhile, South Africa’s extreme inequality further complicates the relationship between poverty and class. According to Edward Molopi, Senior Communications and Advocacy Officer at the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa (SERI), the country now ranks as the most unequal society in the world.
“There’s a great disparity between those who have and those who do not. Because of our apartheid and racial history, access to opportunity is highly racialised. What happens then is that class becomes almost a racial issue when you look at the South African context.”
This intersection of race, class, and history means that poverty is often perceived not as a structural failure but as an individual one — a perception that can influence how people are policed, how services are delivered, and whose lives are afforded dignity and protection.
As South Africa continues to grapple with inequality, housing backlogs, unemployment, and service delivery challenges, experts warn that addressing poverty without confronting classism risks entrenching the very divisions the Constitution seeks to overcome.
Listen to the full interview below:
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