The author shows that an African middle class has emerged in South Africa because the demands of an expanding economy have led to large concentrations of the African population in the urban areas, which needed the services that such a middle class could provide. The developments of this class has, however, been hampered by policies which limit African participation in the South African economy and restrict opportunities for the acquisition of capital and for its investment. While this class is small at present, its political significance is out of all proportion to its size. Thus, the degree to witch African participation in the economy is hindered or facilitated will determinad the fate of the middle class and the kind of leadership it will provide for the African masses. Footnotes. (Abridged in Oversea Quarterly 2 (1961), no. 6, p. 167-69).
