The causes of unemployment in post-apartheid Johannesburg and the livelihood strategies of the poor

Central to the increase in urban poverty in the post-apartheid period is th e rise in unemployment. This provides the point of departure for this paper . The first section shows how Johannesburg and its environs, although const ituting the industrial and commercial heartland of South Africa, is a city that has not reached its potential economic development. Having outlined th e causes and dimensions of this sluggish economic position, next is conside red how the poor survive in Johannesburg through both economic and non-econ omic strategies. With this in mind it is argued that addressing the current situation of growing poverty and inequality (as well as redressing the leg acy of past inequities) requires broad municipal response to urban unemploy ment, Instead of the current tendency to view poverty simply as the product of income and consumption deprivation, a more widely defined response to u rban poverty reduction, based on a livelihoods framework, is proposed.