KZN Ranks South Africa’s Poorest Province As Nearly Half Its Residents Face Hardship

KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) has overtaken Limpopo as South Africa’s poorest province, with nearly half of its residents struggling to meet basic living standards.

This comes as Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) released a revised poverty trends report on Thursday, revealing that approximately 23 million South Africans are living in poverty.

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The findings show that KZN has the highest poverty levels nationally, followed by the North West, Eastern Cape and Limpopo — all positioned above the national average.

Stats SA noted that Limpopo, KZN and the Eastern Cape have consistently been the poorest provinces since 2006.

Poverty Levels Shift as Limpopo Sees Notable Decline

Limpopo experienced the most significant improvement between 2015 and 2023, with poverty levels dropping from 66% to 47.6%.

However, despite this progress, KZN surpassed Limpopo in 2023 as the province with the largest number of people living in poverty.

Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke highlighted that these predominantly rural provinces face multiple concurrent challenges.

“And one of the things that we have been seeing with unemployment is that the Northwest has been continuing to lead beyond the Eastern Cape when it comes to unemployment, so you can see some congruence that we pick up with other products,” he said.

Grants Play Key Role in Easing Poverty Despite High Joblessness

Maluleke explained the apparent mismatch between declining poverty and persistently high unemployment rates.

“You don’t have to be working to have income. Those who are not working can get income from grants that the government makes available. Those are the policy interventions that have assisted,” he noted.

Stats SA added that the Western Cape continues to record the lowest poverty levels in the country, with figures sitting at less than half of KZN’s.

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