Ageing and social policy in South Africa: Historical perspectives with particular reference to the Eastern Cape

This article analyses old-age security policy ill South Africa within the w ider context of social policy in twentieth-century South Africa. It focuses on old-age pensions as the major part of welfare provision for the elderly . Two main questions are addressed (I) Why did South Africa introduce old-a ge pensions for aged white elderly in 1928 and why did ii broaden the syste m to include Africans in 1944? (2) What were the main economic and social c onsequences of this law, especially for Africans in rural communities, with particular reference to the mid-century Eastern Cape? Ir is argued that So uth African old-age pension policy was, inter alia, shaped by three factors : (I) capitalist industrialisation mediated by the character of existing pu blic social provision and - with regard to Africans - segregationist polici es; (2) cultural and ideological shifts; (3) class politics. As a consequen ce of state initiative, from an early stage, pension money became decisive for the economic survival of many African rural households and contributed indirectly to the increased self-respect and social status of African old-a ge pensioners. The linking of old-age pensions to chronological age did not lead to the emergence of old age as a chronologically-defined stage of lif e because pre industrial life-course models organised around the notion of 'building the umzi (homestead)' were still very much alive. Finally, ii is argued that from its inception, the South African state welfare policy had some ageist aspects to ii. The article concludes that the political economy approach to ageing cannot fully account for the complexities of the ageing experience in South Africa.