This paper employs data from the Labour Force Surveys of September 2000 and 2001 to update
our earlier account of the evolution of the racial wage hierarchy in post-apartheid South Africa.
We present evidence that the wage position of the majority African workforce improved relative
to all other racial groups immediately following the transition to democratic rule in 1994, but
that these gains had been largely eroded by 2001. The persistence of racial wage differences
following the repeal of all overt discriminatory laws and regulations points to the need for
concerted policy interventions to reverse the legacy of apartheid. We review the range of policy
initiatives that have been taken by the South African Government since 1994 in the light of our
empirical findings.