Blacks, who make up about 75% of SA’s population, are moving from the periphery of the economy into the mainstream thanks to policies aimed at redressing decades of injustice.

Statistics compiled by the independent Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) show that the black middle class has swelled to 7,8% of the total population in 2000 from 3,3% in 1994.

“The development of a black middle class was deliberately stunted under apartheid,” says the HSRC’s Roger Southall.

Although official figures are not available, analysts say the black middle class is behind the retail sales boom and strong house price growth — also encouraged by the lowest interest rates in 24 years and high disposable incomes.

Before 1994, blacks were precluded by legislation from owning properties in suburbs exclusively reserved for whites and had limited access to bank credit.

But the face of the former white suburbs has changed as blacks increasingly move from the townships in search of security and better municipal services. Living in posh suburbs is seen by many as a status symbol.

“The black middle class is contributing strongly to the growth of the property market and other sectors of the economy,” says Jacques du Toit, an economist at Absa.

House prices rose an average of 30,3% in real terms in 2004, the highest since 1967, and business is also booming for auto traders, with a growing number of sales attributed to black buyers.

“An analysis of our customer profile on new vehicles indicates that we are selling between 15-20% of our new vehicles to blacks,” says Brandt Pretorius, chairman of McCarthy Motor Holdings, SA’s biggest car retailer.

“It is our view that three years from today, black South Africans will represent the majority of new car buyers.”

According to data from the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA, a record 481000 units were sold last year.

The growth in the black middle class is attributed to better education and government affirmative action policies, which analysts say are levelling the playing field for access to high-paying professions. Black economic empowerment deals aimed at giving blacks a bigger chunk of the economy are another key factor.

“Based on our estimates ... approximately 300000 black South Africans have migrated into the middle and higher income sectors,” says Pretorius.

“Our view is that the distribution of wealth in SA will continue to change more in favour of black South Africans, due to a higher level of education, the positive impact of black economic empowerment, affirmative action and the integration of blacks into the mainstream economy.”

But some analysts, while accepting that more blacks are playing a greater role in the economy, say they are not the only population group advancing up the social ladder.

“Given the strong growth in per capita income, all the population groups have moved up. Because of our racial composition it is understandable that most of the people moving up are blacks,” says George Kershoff, an economist at the Bureau for Economic Research.

“But we should be careful to note that it’s part of a broader improvement in the disposable income in society.”