The inaugural World Economic Forum report on social mobility pegs South Africa at 77th out of 82 countries, an extraordinarily poor result for a country with a huge body of legislation and government programmes aimed at lifting the poor out of poverty. South Africa’s score of 41.4 on the list means it is performing worse than countries like Guatemala (43.5), Morocco (43.7), Ghana (45.6) and Paraguay (46.8). It’s a story we have all become used to: SA is strong in social institutions, but horrible at creating jobs, terrible at educating its citizens and even worse at protecting them. SA ranks 40th in inclusive institutions and 55th in social protections, 80th in both work, and education quality and equity.
SOURCE: DAILY MAVERICK