SA’s black middle class has grown considerably in 10 years, but still playing catch-up
South Africa’s black middle class showed incredible resilience during Covid, and the impact on their finances during the pandemic was seemingly limited — with 70% saying they were not worse off financially. This is according to a recent research report on the black middle class by the UCT Liberty Institute of Strategic Marketing.
Zandile Makhoba, a consumer economist at the Liberty Institute, says about 10% of the black middle class said they had access to R100,000 or more, compared to 37% of the white middle class who had access to R100,000 or more, to be able to weather tough economic periods.
However, even though there was evidence of resilience, finances were a major source of stress, with many households reporting challenges with mental health. Other areas of concern included their health, crime, their children’s future and not being able to support dependants financially.
“If we go from a household income of R22,000 and more, we find that the concentration of the black middle class is still very much at the beginning levels,” says Makhoba.