The great divide between black, coloured, Asian and white South African is still a chasm 11 years after the dawn of democracy, with a third of black South Africans saying they often or sometimes go without food.
And 35 percent of blacks say they have to borrow money from friends, family, micro-lenders and banks, simply to buy something to eat.
These are just some of the shocking findings of the latest survey on financial usage in the country, for which interviews were done in June and August this year.
The FinScope 2005 is a comprehensive national survey tracking financial usage behaviour in South Africa.
It found that 14,3-million people were currently "banked".
Research Surveys conducted 3 885 face-to-face interviews with people from all race groups and walks of life.
About 65 percent of the interviewees were from rural areas, while 35 percent were from cities.
Some shocking findings were:
- Nearly 50 percent of South Africans claim that they sometimes or often go without a cash income, with 33 percent of black people saying they often or sometimes go without food.
- Most South Africans earn less than R1 999 a month.
- Many people rely on the salaries of others to survive.
- 17 percent of black households have experienced income or job loss due to illness.
- 86 percent of black people use public hospitals, but only 55 percent have them close by.
In terms of literacy, only 27 percent of adults over 16 have matriculated, while 41 percent have completed some high school education.
Only half the population knows what a credit card is and understands what a service fee is.
Virtually no one knows what an ombudsman or an underwriter is.
FinScope was launched in 2003 by the FinMark Trust and has been used to identify barriers to financial access for poor people and provides insights for policy makers, in both the public and private sectors.
The survey said: "The great divide in South Africa is still very evident with the same demographic groups falling into the 'have' and 'have not' segments."
Under the section titled Debt in South Africa, 35 percent of black respondents said they borrowed money to buy food, while 31 percent of coloureds said the same.
The top reason why whites borrowed money was to buy a car.