What racial spatial inequality tells us about racism in post-apartheid South Africa

Abstract

Racism remains a key theme of debate inside and outside the South African academy. Some contend that the inclusion of the Black majority into liberal democracy and the growth of the Black middle class in post-apartheid South Africa render racism insignificant for understanding social inequality. Others converge on the view that race continues to shape inequality in contemporary South Africa. Both perspectives suffer from important conceptual and theoretical weaknesses. Importantly, much of the commentary on race and class lacks an analysis of how neoliberalism shapes racism and its relationship with capitalism in post-apartheid South Africa. This article addresses this blind spot. In the article, based on a combination of primary and secondary documentary sources, I argue that racial spatial inequality in post-apartheid South Africa's urban geography epitomises the intersection of neoliberalism and capital accumulation in the perpetuation of historically produced racial inequalities as well as the systemic nature of racism.