Abstract

Studies on individual subjective well-being have gained prominence over the past decade because it has been argued that life satisfaction is an important indicator of societal progress. South Africa’s overarching development goal, as succinctly articulated in the National Development Plan 2030 is to have an inclusive society in which no one is left behind. This policy position is buttressed by two key international development documents to which South Africa is a signatory: (a) the African Union’s “Agenda 2063: the Africa We Want” and the United Nations’ “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.” Within this context, the purpose of this study is to explore the perceptions of internally displaced persons in the provinces of KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape on their subjective well-being. A cross-sectional research design was adopted to collect 559 completed questionnaires from respondents at the study sites. Using the Mann–Whitney Test and Analyses of Variances, the study arrived at the key finding that subjective well-being among the participating IDPs presents mixed results of below average and slightly above average on tested constructs. The main conclusion is that concerns of safety and security, unaccounted-for family members, and loss of livelihoods require urgent attention. The unique contribution of this study is evident in literature, the value of the cross-sectional design applied to the two study sites, and new empirical evidence on internal displacement and well-being. Suggestions for future research are made using the longitudinal research approach.