Population Policy in South Africa

Abstract

This report examines the current state and likely future directions of population policy in South Africa with particular reference to family planning activities set against the background of apartheid and its demise. In the apartheid era, population policy was perceived by most blacks as an instrument for the control of their number and movements. Recently, policy has been adjusted by the national Population Development Program in response to the changing sociopolitical situations in the country. A national post-apartheid population policy is likely to retain many of the components of this new program. However, a future nonracist and democratic society would probably invite a review of population activities in the country and raise wider issues concerning rationales, organization, and strategies for the delivery of family planning in South Africa.