Except there could be a slight problem. The 'black middle class' might not exist at all:
The so-called black middle class does not really exist, says politician-turned-businessman Saki Macozoma.
"It is a (mere) conceptual construction," Sake Beeld reported him as saying on Wednesday.
Macozoma, formerly an African National Congress MP and currently chairman of financial services group Stanlib, said the black group concerned did not have much of a "class consciousness", it should rather be described as a category.
The group could not sustain its own continued existence as members either rose rapidly into the high income group or fell back into the lower income groups.
On top of this, the group lacked the organised political mobilisation required to defend its economic progress.
1 comment:
I share the same views with you when it come to the property market coming to a crumbling crash. But the Black Middle class "Black Diamonds" does exist and is very much active. We are going through a transition stage in SA at the moment. Blacks are getting a bit more money than before. On the other hand, there is too much debt flying around, hence most people are actualy "a cheque away from poverty". I know this because i was once a "big spender" until i got educated. I think in the next few years the difference between the survivors and the pay cheque slaves will be determined by the amount of investing vs. spending that one does in the years of start-me-up. The choice between a 1series BMW or a Satrix 40 investment account will differentiate the wealthy from the show-offs.
It will get interesting in the next few years. We are starting to see the stress sings, property is staying in the market for longer periods, car manufacturers are offering ridiculous cuts in interest rates (i.e: BMW and Hyundai). Obvious signs of a skew demand and supply.
A 15% interest rate and a petrol price of more than R7/l, will bring the SA household-economy to it's knees. When that happens, most of the black middle class will be bumped down to the lower class.
That's just my view, later.
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