This paper uses a framework which allows for the multi-dimensionality of
poverty and the vague borderline between the poor and non-poor, in conjunction with
results from a recent survey conducted in three locations in South Africa. The ‘core poor’
are those who are unambiguously poor and ‘vulnerability’ is defined in terms of how
close one is to being definitely poor in some dimension of poverty. Our results suggest
that some South Africans set very tough standards for someone to qualify as poor. Even
by these standards, however, there is considerable core poverty in South Africa. The core
poor include households with either no or only a small proportion of adults in work and
those that lack education and health care. In certain other dimensions (housing and clean
water) the main problem is extreme vulnerability. These results lead us to reassess the
findings of, and policy implications of, recent studies of poverty in South Africa.