South Africa has been plagued by racial inequality and economic disparity for centuries. Blacks were relegated to simple servants of the white population. Apartheid, which lasted from 1948 to 1994, further accentuated this racial divide. When the apartheid-supporting nationalist government lost power in 1994, the new ANC spoke of economic prosperity for all South Africans; however, economic inequality continues to plague South Africa and there is still a high correlation between total income and race. South Africa has one of the highest Gini coefficients in the world, a measure of income inequality. On a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 indicates perfect equality and 100 indicates complete inequality, South Africa's Gini coefficient is 63. For South Africa to become a more prosperous and successful country, it must invest heavily in economic and infrastructure programs. development because the growth of infrastructure and the economy will benefit both the government and the people, it is also a big priority as much of our infrastructure is falling apart, and by doing so it will increase the standard of living enjoyed by the people. We can invest in our economy both through large projects and through small loans to individuals to help them start their own businesses (microloans); therefore, given the high priority of investments in our economy, it is necessary that 40% of the grant goes to finance economic and infrastructure development; it is necessary because large infrastructure projects provide the basic resources on which people can build a better and more advanced society, while smaller projects focus on individual people and their lives. Attempting to improve the economy at both the government and individual levels,...... middle of paper...... 97-102. Washington, DC: World Bank, 2008.McGroarty, Patrick. “South Africa's GDP increases in 2013”. The Wall Street Journal, 25 February 2014, US edition, Africa News. Accessed 25 February 2014.MFRC “Microfinance in South Africa”. MFRC Last modified 2014. Accessed 25 February 2014. http://www.mfrc.co.za/.South African Government. “Key themes – National infrastructure plan”. South African Government Online. Last modified 2013. Accessed 25 February 2014. http://www.gov.za/issues/national-infrastructure-plan/index.html.Thomas, Landon, Jr. “Coinages in the Financial Realm: After BRICs Fall, the ' Fragile Five.'” The New York Times, January 28, 2014, New York edition, International Business. Accessed February 26, 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/29/business/international/fragile-five-is-the-latest-club-of-emerging-nations-in-turmoil.html ? _R=0.