From Apartheid to Globalisation: Health and Social Change in South Africa

outh Africa’s transition from a racist apartheid society that denied basic human rights to a majority of its population to a fully democratic nation is one of the more celebrated transitions of recent times. However this transition is having its costs as it has also involved an acceleration of the integration of South Africa into the global economy and a stripping away of many of the protective trade barriers that cocooned the South African economy. The freedom of movement resulting from the scrapping of apartheid laws and a neo-liberal macro-economic policy has led to rapid urbanization, increasing unemployment and deepening inequalities. As was the case in 19 Century Europe South Africa is suffering a significant rise in mortality, especially amongst young men and women. This paper briefly summarises the economic, social and political transitions that South Africa has gone through in the last decade. It then highlights some of impacts this transition has had on mortality. The last section explores the parallels between the impact of the recent South African transition and that which occurred in industrializing Europe. The paper concludes with a discussion on the prospects of South Africa enjoying the same development trajectory as that of 19 Century Europe.