ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the effects of apartheid’s urbanization and related policies on the socioeconomic development of the African population. In order to adequately describe the demographic and socioeconomic dimensions of South Africa’s development since 1948, a variety of indicators are examined at the national and territorial levels: population size and distribution according to population group, annual growth rates, age-sex distribution, geographic distribution, migration, urbanization, labor force structure, and income distribution. While government issued unemployment rates are suspect in virtually all countries, determining levels of unemployment in South Africa is particularly problematic since the government does not publish unemployment statistics. All population groups are highly urbanized in South Africa, with the notable exception of the African population which has experienced forced removals and displaced urbanization. The extent of segregation, or inequality, between the industrial structures of the African and white labor forces, as measured by the index of dissimilarity, were striking.
