At the July 2003 Cabinet Lekgotla, government took a decision to undertake a country/ macro-social analysis to focus its attention on how these indicators were behaving over time. This would help to inform our assessment of the efficacy or appropriateness of government’s social programmes. The discussion document on macro-social trends in South Africa (Macro-Social Report [MSR]) is based on extensive research and discussions at the Forum of South African Directors-General clusters and Cabinet.