Department of Anthropology

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Browsing Department of Anthropology by Author "Sibanda, Octavia"

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    White poverty in post-apartheid South Africa: The case of West Bank in East London.
    (University of Fort Hare, 2014) Sibanda, Octavia
    This dissertation examines the question of poor Whites in the South African context using the case study of a predominantly working-class suburb of West Bank in East London. This study is written within the context of a global and countrywide recession, and within a dominant discourse that portrays White poverty as non- existent and that views White people as predominantly wealthy and ‘normal’. Within this discourse, the benefits and privileges extended to White people during the apartheid era are viewed as having transferred property to Whites, whilst dispossessing Blacks. As the White middle-class retains and expands its dominant position in the economy in contemporary South Africa, poor Whites have become overshadowed, invisible and unwanted. This ethnographic exploration focuses on the existence of poor Whites that dwell on the margins of society. The existence of poor Whites is severely stigmatised because it contradicts the perfect images of ‘normal’ Whites who are not poor. As such, poor Whites suffer from being stereotyped as lazy, drunkards, abnormal, dishonest and trash. This study seeks to understand the social meanings of White poverty and offer a clear interpretation of why it remains invisible and stigmatised. This study details the historical background of poor Whites in order to shed light on how their negative identity, which has been inherited from post-apartheid South Africa, evolved. White poverty is a genuinely feared condition amongst White people as it carries distinct negative connotations. As such, the subject of poor Whites has for a long time been a sensitive issue. Historically, concerted efforts to deal with and cover up this ‘White shame’ were made in order to shield it from the public gaze. If Whites had been allowed to fall into this abhorrent category of poor Whites, what then would have differentiated them from poor Blacks? The colonial and the apartheid mentality influenced the diagnosis and the treatment of poor Whites. I argue that, although there were measures put in place to deal with the plight of poor Whites, their poverty was not eliminated. The poor Whites during that period were uplifted through a wide range of social nets that kept the shame of poverty contained. Job reservations, priority education, and subsidised housing kept White poverty under control. This strategy generated a ‘normal’ image of White lives to the outside world in order to justify White domination and White privileges. Historically, making Whites appear as different and having privileged access to a range of social capital reflected a picture of life filled with abundance. However, the collapse of racial-Fordism, de-industrialisation, the end of racial-based governance and the neo-liberal economic framework in South Africa has re-introduced the poor Whites back into the dreaded reality of White poverty. While it is historically acknowledged that Whites dominated the social landscape in the South African context through the processes of colonialism, settlement and apartheid, thereby leaving a large foot print in the economy and politics, a section of Whites (not so privileged) has continued to exist alongside the mainstream White communities. I therefore argue that in contemporary South Africa the experiences of poor Whites who have been dispossessed through economic fluctuations and changes in socio-political make-up of South Africa have not been fully explored. In the case of East London, the contemporary experiences of poor Whites have overridden the dreams of coastal Whiteness driven by the previous industrial expansion and accumulation of White difference and privilege, and have pushed poor Whites into renegotiating their lives within the rapidly integrating poor sections of previously mono White suburbs. The poor Whites who are mainly working-class casualties have had to adjust and invent creative ways of existing within the informal sections of the economy. It is noted in this dissertation that little pity is given to poor Whites; in fact their condition carries shame. As such, poor Whites have been marked as ‘different’ and referred to as the ‘Other’. The deliberate social exclusion of poor Whites from normal life processes is also a reflection of the boundaries that have been created by the formation of social and cultural fences targeted at keeping out perceived ‘social deviants’. Those excluded from participating in what is considered to be ‘normal’, such as having a job and money and subscribing to middle-class values, have negative labels affixed to them and they therefore carry an identity of rejection, and are the new wounded citizens. Wacquant (2008) in his theory of advanced marginality explains that this state of affairs is common in many urban areas that have or are de-industrialising. I argue that the term ‘poor White’ indicates that its existence is in opposition to the normal/middle-class values and that attracts castigation and despise. This study also seeks to close the literature gaps on poor Whites. Anthropological research that links White poverty to deindustrialisation and neo-liberalism is limited, and smaller cities like East London have not drawn much inquiry. The main aim of this work has, therefore, been to explore and understand the marginal voices of the poor Whites within a context where their very existence is questionable. Drawing from empirical data gathered through ethnography, in-depth interviews and observations, I have constructed a narrative of poor Whites, detailing their experiences in contemporary South Africa. There is an untold story of White poverty which this study seeks to highlight. The dissertation concludes by discussing the paradoxes of citizenship as reflected in the lives of poor Whites.