The New South Africa...still a struggle.

               The New South Africa continues to evolve and is a thriving country.  Many South Africans have recovered from the effects and challenges of apartheid, but many have not.  As we lived with in the community of Port Elizabeth, we witnessed the effects of poverty, homelessness, unemployment, and chronic health issues.  Elements of survival were seen in prostitution, bartering, and selling hand-made goods for profit.   Many of the black South Africans are still feeling the real economic effects of poverty, lack of education and the separation from the larger society.     There is a very definitive separation between black, colored, white, and Indians in South Africa. “The cornerstone of apartheid was the division of all South Africans by race”(Wooden, 2012).

                  This divide was seen in housing communities, work environments, and in the school sector.  Many colored inhabitants of Cape Town suburbs were relocated in segregated areas on the fringes of the city: plans for the demolition of the central District Six area had in fact been formulated before the Second World War (Wooden, 2012).  Much like the housing projects in the US, many poverty-stricken people resort to low income housing areas.  Many are subjected to substandard conditions of living but require immediate refuge or homelessness would be imminent.