Cape Town, often rated as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, is also, from an economic perspective, one of the most unequal cities in South Africa—the world’s most economically unequal country—with a Gini coefficient of around 0.65. Two-thirds of the population have almost nothing, while a significant portion of the remaining third holds immense wealth.

In addition, according to crime indices, South Africa ranks as one of the most violent countries globally. The unemployment rate among 18- to 35-year-olds hovers around 45%. Although there is theoretically a minimum wage of approximately $1.50 per hour, in practice, it is often not enforced. A large portion of the population lives in absolute poverty.

Since the end of apartheid in 1994, the country has undergone significant changes and developments, both nationally and internationally. However, issues such as inequality and poverty have worsened in recent years, to the extent that this year, for the first time, the ANC, which has won the democratic parliamentary majority over the past 30 years, failed to achieve it.

South Africa also continues to make headlines internationally, for instance, with its non-alignment strategy regarding Russia's war of aggression or other stances, such as accusing Israel of genocide before the International Court of Justice.

I’ve been speaking with members of the population, scholars, and researchers about political, economic, environmental, and social dimensions.

This episode aims to bring it all together— South Africa in a Nutshell.