Part One: Research Proposal
Problem and Purpose Statement

Despite an abundance of natural resources, a modern infrastructure, and increasingly aggressive efforts by the national government and support from multiple nongovernmental organizations since apartheid ended in 1994, more than half (about 55% or 30.3 million people) of the South Africa population still lives in poverty today and another 13.8 million South Africans do not have enough to eat each day (Poverty & equity brief 2021). Moreover, current economic development indicators show that the per capita annualized consumption growth rate of the bottom 40 percent of the South African population actually suffered a 1.34% decline during the 4-year period from 2010 through 2014 (the latest statistic available from The World Bank). In sum, the situation for the poorest people in South Africa is worsening and there are few new opportunities available on the short-term horizon that can help them achieve their full employment potential and realize the complete range of human right guarantees in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and the South African constitution.

Against this backdrop, it is clear that South African policymakers as well as the international community must develop innovative solution which are targeted at not only alleviating the suffering of these impoverish individuals but pave the road for future economic development to ensure that everyone in South Africa that wants a job that pays a living wage can get one. Likewise, additional provisions must be made for the well-being of the people of South Africa who are unable to pursue gainful employment for whatever reason. To this end, developing new employment opportunities through public and private sectors partnerships represent timely and valuable potential solutions to these challenging problems.

B. Literature Review

Today, South Africa is classified as a middle-income nation that enjoys abundant natural resources, a mature legal and financial network as well as a comparatively modern telecommunications and transportation infrastructure (South Africa economy 2021). In addition, South Africa has the 17th largest stock exchange in the world and a population of 57 million people with a strong work ethic and sense of nationhood. Although South Africa experienced sustained economic growth during the early years of the 21st century, the global economic downturn in 2009 had a devastating effect on the country’s macroeconomic stability from which it has still not fully recovered (South Africa economy 2021).

Further compounding the problems facing South Africa at present was...…component of the research methodology since it provides the opportunity to canvass stakeholders about their views on reducing income inequalities in general and in a South African context in particular.

The data collected from the completed custom questionnaires will be analyzed using the statistical analytical tools provided by the online survey service, SurveyMonkey, to generate relevant cross-tabulations concerning the views of different stakeholder groups about optimal strategies for reducing income inequalities in South Africa today and in the future. The resulting data will be presented in tabular and graphic formats and interpreted in a narrative fashion to identify significant trends and prevailing views among respondents concerning the issues of interest to the study proposed herein.

Part Two: Proposed Topics for the Dissertation

1. How can investments in job creation, education and skills training be used to their maximum effect to reduce income inequalities and promote social justice in South Africa?

2. What are the lingering vestiges of apartheid that are most salient in maintaining existing institutionalized racism and income disparities among South Africa’s marginalized citizenry and how can they be eliminated?

3. What economic development strategies have been used in other emerging nations to promote social justice and reduce income inequalities?…