Class Edition 2014

I so wish I could find some way to show my white friends the world I live in, where I wake up daily to fight my way out of ”earning” my place.

… and they still don’t have a clue, writes Zama Ndlovu, who sees herself as black middle class but is still struggling to prove her worth.

Who earns how much and what exactly do we spend it on?

It can be hard to keep abreast of all the key catchphrases. Here’s an attempt at understanding the latest South African political lexicon.

French economist Thomas Piketty sees the source of the 2008 financial crash in the unsustainable levels of inequality that characterises capitalism.

In a dusty township in the North West, Lisa Steyn meets up with immigrants who have set up spazas that support families back home.

Growing inequality has left the capitalist dream on its last gasp. And the sooner we all stop fantasising about the American Dream, the better.

What the great and the good have had to say about class throughout history.

Fanon creates a triad with Marx and Lenin, to help the EFF reclaim class from its racist foundations.

Life among the one-percenters of the Cape Town suburb of Clifton is a beach, not a bitch.

South Africa today suffers a confusion between the rule of the people, the rule of law and the rule of property.

Life with pit latrines and the bucket system was meant to be a hallmark of the most rural of existences. But Tiisetso Makube found it in his backyard.

Oupa Nkosi interviewed – and photographed – some of those whose salaries are supposedly taking them closer to the good life.

Writer Bongani Madondo relates how books have eased the psychic pain of his class-conscious family.

The historically divided suburbs of Alexandra and Sandton will soon have a bridge to link them. This time utilitarianism might win out over symbolism.