SOUTH AFRICA’S BLACK MIDDLE CLASS: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
University of Cape Town Liberty Institute of Strategic Marketing
Tuesday 17 January
9.15 am
COURSE FEES R110
In this lecture we will explore the transformational journey experienced by South Africa’s black middle class over the last thirty years. From a completely new segment at the birth of democracy through a number of economic highs and lows, the black middle class continues to be crucial to South Africa’s development. The UCT Liberty Institute has been researching the black middle class for almost twenty years and was known in the 2000s for its Black Diamond Reports (a term no longer used). With a long history of research on the subject of consumer behaviour, this presentation will look at definitions, size and characteristics of the black middle class, assessing both the changes that have happened and what is in store for the future.
Recommended reading
Lappeman, J., Egan, P., Rightford, G. and Ramogase, T. 2021. Marketing to South African Consumers, Cape Town, South Africa: UCT Library. Download: https://openbooks.uct.ac.za/uct/catalog/book/29
Bhorat, H., Kimani, M.E., Lappeman J. and Egan, P. 2021. Characterisation, definition, and measurement issues of the middle class in sub-Saharan Africa. Development Southern Africa, 1–18.
Lappeman, J., Du Plessis, L., Ho, E., Louw, E. and Egan, P. 2021. Africa’s heterogeneous middle class: a 10-city study of consumer lifestyle indicators. International Journal of Market Research, 63(1), 58–85.