Many are of the opinion that South Africa (SA) is a first world country, but this is simply not the case. While the general economy of the country may be reasonably sound, millions of people in South Africa are living under third world conditions. This is borne out by the following facts:

1)	The weekly wage in SA is but a third of the average wage in first world countries
2)	The monthly pension in SA is but 10% of that in most developed countries
3)	A staggering 50% of the population in SA lives below the breadline
4)	A shocking 24.5% of the population are unemployed
5)	Then, to cap it all, the inflation rate in SA is three times that of the UK, USA and Australia.

For confirmation of these facts, please see the statistics below.

Income Per Capita

Country	UK	Australia	USA	South Africa	% of average
Average Weekly WageRand Equivalent	5556.62	8153.21	5393.89	2209.00	34.7%

Pensions

Country	UK	Australia	USA	South Africa	% of average
Average Weekly PensionRand Equivalent	2614.16	1851.92	2558.08	240.48	10%

Unemployment

Country	UK	Australia	USA	South Africa
Unemployment Rate	6.2%	5.8%	10.2%	24.5%

Poverty

Country	UK	Australia	USA	South Africa
Population Living Below The Breadline 2000 Estimate	14%	13%	13%	50%

Inflation

Country	UK	Australia	USA	South Africa
Consumer Prices 2008 Estimate	3.6%	4.4%	3.8%	11.3%

Clearly SA is by no means a developed country and, as such, there is no question that SA is as deserving of foreign aid as any other country.

In that Meals on Wheels For The Aged receives very little in the way of welfare assistance from the South African government, and in that SA receives less than 20% of its welfare budget from foreign sources, we appeal to the powers that be in foreign countries to assist us in our attempt to eradicate hunger from our beautiful but struggling third world country.

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