EXTENDING credit to black South Africans following the advent of democracy in 1994 was meant to assist in abolishing the legacy of apartheid. Instead, it brought hardship to many poor people, who became heavily indebted.But, at the same time, it helped people improve their lives. Unsecured lending is far more nuanced than is often suggested.Deborah James, professor of anthropology at the London School of Economics, attempts to unravel the many aspects of SA’s debt burden in her latest book, Money from Nothing: Indebtedness and aspiration in South Africa.James says her interest was piqued in the early 2000s when she was visiting her students around SA. On long road trips she heard radio phone-in shows where listeners suggested debt was an "absolutely gigantic phenomenon".DetailsTITLE: Money from Nothing: Indebtedness and Aspiration in South AfricaAUTHOR: Deborah JamesPUBLISHER: Stanford University PressShe has also written books on land reform and migration in SA, and found some of t...
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