The DEMOGRAPHICS chapter reveals that the population of South Africa has grown from 41 million people in 1995 to 48 million in 2007. Life expectancy has dropped from 62 years in 1995 to just 50 years in 2007. Clearly this trend follows the course of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which had already caused 2.16 million deaths in South Africa by 2007. In 2007, HIV/AIDS accounted for 48% of all deaths in South Africa.

HEALTH and WELFARE trends show that there were about 1.4 million AIDS orphans in South Africa in 2007, while in 2008 some 11.6% of the total population was infected with the disease. With the growing problem of Extensively Drug Resistant TB (XDRTB), the healthcare sector is under severe and mounting pressure. Most of the pressure will be on the public healthcare system, since only 7.3% of Africans were covered by medical aid in 2007.

The ECONOMY grew by 5.1% in 2007, and GDP per head (current prices) in 2007 reached R41 066. Average inflation in 2007 was 7.1%, prompting several increases in the repo rate during that year. The average prime overdraft rate in 2007 was 13.11%, and this continued to rise along with inflationary pressure in 2008. Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) increased in 2007 to 20.6% of GDP from 18.6% in 2006.

The section on BUSINESS and EMPLOYMENT shows that 25.5% of the economically active population was unemployed in March 2007. New data based on the latest Income and Expenditure Survey show a better than expected trend for people living on less than 1$/day in South Africa. In 2002 the numbers of people living below this poverty level peaked at just under 3 million people but in 2007 just under 1 million South Africans fell into this category.

EDUCATION has not kept pace with the needs of the growing economy, since in 2007 there were fewer matriculants who obtained university entrance passes than in 2005. There were also fewer maths passes, and fewer higher grade maths passes in 2007 when compared to 2005. There were fewer children in primary school in 2007 than in 1995.

LIVING CONDITIONS improved, with trends showing faster growth in formal than informal dwellings for the first time. In 2007 some 70.6% of all households lived in formal houses, and 91.3% of South African households had access to a landline or cellular telephone.

CRIME continued to be a severe problem in South Africa, with 38.6 murders and 75.6 rapes per 100 000 head of population in 2007. There were also 144 bank robberies and 395 cash-in-transit heists in 2007. In 2006/07 there were 163 416 active police personnel, compared to 307 343 private security officers.

- Marco MacFarlane