The new South Africa has encountered some successes, but also many disappointments since the democratic transition of the 1990s, including the obdurate continuation of extreme poverty and huge inequality. This book is based on a recent major report prepared by South African researchers for Thabo Mbeki, now the country’s President. It presents a comprehensive portrait of the facts of South African poverty, examining the state of the country in terms of education and training, health care, HIV/AIDS, malnutriton, welfare, crime, as well as access to services like water, sanitation, energy, transport and communications.