Survival strategies of the individuals and Households affected by unemployment in eThekwini

Abstract

This research examined the day-to-day survival strategies of the households and workers that are affected by unemployment. This report also assesses how the adoption of neoliberal policies by the present government in post-apartheid South Africa led to continuous economic and political suppression of the unemployed African people. The data was collected by conducting in-depth interviews, focus group interviews, as well as observations in study areas within the Durban Metropolitan. This included rural areas, informal settlements, semi-urban areas and a group of job seekers located at the Kwa Muhle Museum in the eThekwini Municipality. The specific focus areas of the research related to the strategies adopted by unemployed people to meet their daily needs; the skills utilised in the securing of their daily needs; the resources of the unemployed; living conditions of the unemployed and the perspectives of unemployed people in relation to identity and other social groups/structures. The research found that some of the survival strategies included relocating closer to the city to seek out job opportunities which in turn led to the establishment of informal settlements and scavenger - 'hunting and gathering' - patterns utilised in daily survival, e.g. collecting recyclables to sustain daily food. Food is also accessed with support from religious groups through bread distribution and soup kitchens. The conclusion is that there appears to be no change from the old oppressive system of apartheid economics in terms of economic restructuring with regard to wealth redistribution to the poorest quarters of the population. Poverty is still continuing because African workers, in particular, remain compellingly oppressed: subjected to lower paid jobs, forced into migrant labour with resultant family displacements, disruptions and unemployment. The consequences of this are linked to a rise in crime, starvation and exposure to diseases such as malnutrition, TB and AIDS. Government needs to revisit its current economic policy as well as the redistribution of land, to enable those who are unemployed to make a living off the land, as well as to provide job security and social security to the poor, together with the provision of free basic services to those who cannot afford these services.