Media framing of ‘Black tax’ in South Africa AFRICA

Abstract

The study examines the media framing of 'Black Tax', a colloquial concept that describes the financial responsibility young Black South Africans bear in supporting their extended families. Drawing theoretically from the discourses of African communalism and media framing, the study analyses narratives about Black Tax in media texts. Within the intersection and contesting contexts of socio-economic dynamics in South Africa, capitalism and African collectivist culture, the study reveals how the media frame ‘Black Tax’ in selected media texts. There is a dominant frame of ‘Black Tax’ as a financial burden and exploitation for young Black professionals, disregarding African communalism ethos and the generational legacies of poverty and inequality in South Africa.