Poverty is a major threat to the achievement of social, political and economic goals in South Africa. South Africa is the most unequal society in the world. The nature of poverty in the country has become so normalised, and structures of oppression and economic disparity have systematically disempowered the poor to such an extent, that they are unable to understand and actively engage in socioeconomic justice. Structures of equity and justice, along economic lines, are blurred, and economic justice has increasingly become a distant dream that appears unrealisable. These forms of economic injustice, as I shall argue, owe their existence to various socialisations. In the case of South Africa, economic disparity and injustice emerge out of a history of colonialism and apartheid. These historical socialisations have solidified existing realities of economic marginalisation and inequalities that are prevalent in South Africa today. Socialisations form the foundation of value systems.

Historical socialisations are also racial in nature. South Africa presents a unique space to justify the theory that socialisations are racialised along white and black phenotypical binaries. It is perhaps a lot more complex than this, especially because of the increasing divisions that emerge along ethnic lines. The point here is that the nature of racialised socialisation is the imposition of a particular form of human model. However, when it comes to economic disparity, it is plausible to argue that the socioeconomic divisions in South Africa are mainly along racial lines. This complex case of historical marginalisation engenders and sustains poverty in South Africa. Attempts at resolving this historical marginalisation reveal misplaced prioritisation. As I shall demonstrate, drawing on Rick Turner's work, the focus has often been on goals that are generated from particular value systems – mostly material – that people seek to achieve. I argue that the re-evaluation of socialisations, the value systems and human models they engender calls for a critical engagement with the ethical implications of value systems and human models in South Africa. In this chapter I deal with four issues: first, I look at Rick Turner's ‘human models’ and ‘value systems’ and the ethical implications they bring to our attention. Second, I explore the nature of poverty and the structural inequality that remain prevalent in South Africa. Third, I engage instances of misplaced prioritisation as the constituting factor of inequalities in South Africa.