The study found that between 20, the number of black middle-class families who owned a DVD player increased from 30% to 63% the number with computers at home increased from 19% to 45% and of those owning microwaves from 60% to 92%.

This has led to the rise of income levels in black families, which in turn has led to increased consumption. For example, currently 40% of black professionals work in the civil service, compared to 13% of whites. Simpson agrees with President Zuma’s upbeat assessment and provides backup data. In a recent study, Four Million and Rising, Mr. “The growth demonstrates that we are making progress in improving the quality of life and extending opportunities to those who were oppressed only 19 years ago before the dawn of freedom.”īut who exactly is in the middle class in South Africa? Although the African Development Bank describes as middle class in a developing economy anyone earning more than $2 per day, a study by John Simpson, director of the University of Cape Town’s Unilever Institute of Strategic Marketing, defines middle class South Africans as those who earn between $1,550 and $4,800 per month or who meet certain criteria, for instance, having a white-collar job and owning a car. Speaking at the Forbes Africa Forum in Congo-Brazzaville in July, South African president Jacob Zuma enthusiastically lauded current progress. Cooper is not the only one to be excited about the steady growth of the South African black middle class. She also owns a winery and business is booming, but she believes that better days are still ahead as she targets a rising black middle-class market.

Which has now become a popular annual event. Cooper had found a partner, Mnikelo Mangciphu, with whom she organized the first-ever Soweto Wine Festival. Alluding to the inscription on her drinking glasses, “Soweto Beer Festival,” she asked her guests, “Why can’t we have a Soweto wine festival?” The economic situation was just right for such a celebration, she felt, as many residents of Soweto, a predominantly black township in Johannesburg, were already showing flashes of middle class life: buying new cars, modern electronics, mobile phones, designer dresses and houses. In the summer of 2005, South Africa–based entrepreneur Marilyn Cooper decided to give her neighbors in a suburb of the capital, Pretoria, a barbecue treat.

Township in south africa defination