General introduction

Abstract

The current issue, which attempts to fill the gap between 2008 and 2012, is devoted to the theme of inequality and its link to poverty. It coincides with 18 years since South Africa's first democratic elections in 1994, which officially marked the end of apartheid, but not of its legacy. While some might argue that 18 years is too short a time to undo apartheid structures and habits, others affirm that this is time enough to have effectively severed links with the past, in the interest of a more egalitarian and equitable society, or that, even though we cannot expect to have perfected the state if there is such a thing as a perfect state then, at least, we ought to have done much better.