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USAID Information:
External Links:
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South Africa
Please note: All linked documents are in PDF format
| Objective |
SO Number |
FY 2004 |
FY 2005 |
FY 2006 |
| Democracy and Governance |
674-001 |
5,316 |
6,068 |
7,148 |
| Education |
674-002 | 9,376 |
7,248 |
8,366 |
| Economic Capacity Building |
674-004 | 3,728 |
2,400 |
2,100 |
| Housing & Municipal Services |
674-006 |
6,041 |
4,833 |
4,817 |
| HIV/AIDS and Primary Health Care |
674-008 |
31,028 |
5,328 |
5,178 |
| Employment Creation |
674-009 |
6,925 |
6,603 |
7,483 |
| Total (in thousands of dollars) |
62,414 |
32,480 |
35,092 |
Excludes P.L. 480. See Program Annex.
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The Development Challenge: South Africa celebrated a decade of democracy in 2004, and held its third consecutive national democratic elections. However, ten years after its peaceful transition from apartheid, much remains to be done to address past constraints and inequities. The coming years are equally important for South Africa's future in order to ensure continued stability, to consolidate democracy, and to focus on addressing the key challenges of unemployment, crime, HIV/AIDS, and housing.
The South African government has fostered the transformation of a closed, insular economy to one that is open and driven by free market principles. Sound economic management has resulted in steady real economic growth for a record six straight years. However, growth has been too slow to reduce poverty, to significantly reduce unemployment, or to tackle the unequal distribution of wealth. In a 2004 survey, South Africans ranked unemployment--estimated at 27.8%--as the country's most serious problem. The government lacks sufficient data on the demographics of the poor, making it difficult to target anti-poverty programs effectively. After his re-election in 2004, President Thabo Mbeki declared that the government would stimulate the growth of the country's small, medium, and micro enterprises, which employ approximately 66% of the workforce and generate 35% of the country's gross domestic product.
While official statistics show that crime rates are slowly declining, crime remains a central concern for the government because it directly impacts people's lives and undermines public confidence and investment. Crime ranks as the second highest concern of South African citizens. Corruption--the country's most prevalent crime, after burglary--diverts resources from addressing citizen needs, particularly the poor. South Africa also has one of the world's highest incidences of gender-based violence, including rape, a condition that has the potential to derail other social and economic gains.
South Africans' life expectancy has decreased dramatically since 1994, primarily due to the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS. HIV prevalence has now risen to 27.9% of pregnant women. With 5.6 million infected citizens, South Africa has more HIV-infected people than any other country. HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis are closely linked; one fuels the other, leading to numerous deaths and adding to an over-burdened health care system. Vulnerability to HIV/AIDS is greatest in informal settlements, where poverty, labor migration, domestic violence, rape, and the breakdown of family norms all are contributing factors. The South African government began the rollout of a comprehensive HIV/AIDS program, including anti-retroviral treatment, in April 2004.
Local government is essential to South Africa's socioeconomic development. Municipalities are responsible for providing basic services such as water and sanitation, but 10 million historically disadvantaged South Africans live in slums and are under-served with regard to basic shelter, water and sanitation, power, and transport services. To deal with the country's housing problem, the government has proposed constructing 300,000 housing units annually for the next 10 years--with $7 billion in urban infrastructure required to bring housing and services to minimum acceptable standards for the majority of the historically disadvantaged population.
Education is key to sustainable socioeconomic development, but the legacy of apartheid poses challenges in South Africa. The apartheid system excluded blacks in South Africa from receiving quality education in areas such as math and science that provide the skills needed for higher paying jobs. Despite significant gains in the last ten years, many rural schools still do not have qualified math, science, and technology teachers.
The United States has a strong national interest in South Africa as a leader in sub-Saharan Africa and as a trading partner. South Africa is active in regional bodies such as the African Union, the New Partnership for Africa's Development, and the Southern African Development Community. South Africa plays a leading role in promoting peace and stability around the continent, and has been actively engaged in efforts to resolve conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Rwanda and Burundi. South Africa is a positive example for its African neighbors with its tremendous strides toward ruling justly and investing wisely in people and their economic freedom.
The USAID Program: The USAID program in South Africa focuses on leveling the playing field for historically disadvantaged individuals and on addressing the greatest challenges to South Africa--unemployment, HIV/AIDS, and crime. USAID's program concentrates on institutional and policy changes that promote sound governance, transparency, and accountability; improved quality of basic and higher education; enhanced capacity of the healthcare system to address HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis; economic policies and programs that reduce unemployment and poverty; and increased access to shelter and basic municipal services. A regional initiative managed in South Africa addresses the impact of HIV/AIDS throughout southern Africa; it is included in the southern Africa regional program discussion.
Other Program Elements: Sixteen centrally funded and eleven regionally funded activities complement USAID's South Africa program. These activities include technical assistance to support agribusiness; strengthening business linkages between small retailers and wholesalers; and assistance to municipal governments with transportation and related environmental issues. USAID programs also provide capacity building and organizational development services to South African organizations. For example, child survival and HIV/AIDS activities target orphans and other vulnerable children, and an education activity provides teacher training and develops textbooks in 10 indigenous languages. Regional activities focus on governance surveys to assist decision-makers, media watchdogs to protect freedom of the media, and election norms and standards with conflict mitigation measures. Regional programs also address economic integration, trade competitiveness, and development of the information, communications and technology sector, as well as help develop a vaccine against heartwater, a tick-borne disease that adversely impacts the region's livestock.
South Africa is a focus country under the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. FY 2005 funding will be provided from the Global HIV/AIDS Initiative under the policy direction of the U.S. Global AIDS coordinator. The FY 2006 HIV/AIDS request for this country is contained in the Global HIV/AIDS Initiative account justification. For further details please see the Department of State FY 2006 Congressional Budget Justification.
Other Donors: USAID is the largest bilateral donor and second largest overall donor in South Africa after the European Union, which works in the areas of HIV/AIDS, capacity building, civil society, governance, and environment. The United Nations Country Team, which includes 14 different agencies and programs, focuses on HIV/AIDS, integrated sustainable rural development, and regional integration. Major bilateral donors include the United Kingdom (poverty reduction, economic growth, governance, HIV/AIDS), the Netherlands (local government, youth, education, justice), and Germany (community development, public administration, education, business, and employment promotion). USAID works closely with the United Kingdom (UK) on a USAID-developed training program for parliamentarians. In addition, USAID, the UK, and Australia are collaborating with South African organizations and research institutions to improve the capacity of South Africans to analyze, negotiate, and implement international trade agreements. The UK and USAID are jointly implementing a program to address the causes and find solutions to poverty and unemployment.
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