Who are the middle class?

● The ANC claimed in January that the middle class had grown to six million people from 1.7 million five years ago. But an analysis by Africa Check shows there is no consensus on the definition or size of the middle class.

In 2011 the African Development Bank estimated that 43.2% of South Africans were middle class. A World Values survey conducted in 2013 showed that 29.7% of South Africans and 24.4% of black South Africans identified as middle class. But about a quarter (24.5%) of those identifying as middle class said they had gone without enough food to eat during the year — something not ordinarily associated with the middle class.

Data from Unisa’s Bureau of Market Research in 2016 identified the middle class by annual income, with people in the low emerging middle class earning R51 001 to R111 000, and people in the emerging affluent class earning

R382 001 to R787 000.

Financial services company Credit Suisse last year estimated South Africa’s middle class to be 28.5% of the population. It puts the middle class at those earning $10 000 to $100 000 a year (about R119 000 to R1.2-million).

The BMR uses five forms of “capital” to determine middle class, including level of education and fixed assets.

Carel van Aardt, BMR research director of the household wealth division, said human capital development had improved, with 14 million people employed. This could have been 20 million if South Africa had recovered significantly from the 200809 global financial crisis.