This article develops a multilateral decomposition procedure for the analysis of wage differentials and applies this to the evolution of the racial wage hierarchy in South Africa over the period 1993–2001. We find evidence that the wage position of the majority African workforce improved relative to all other racial groups immediately following the transition to democratic rule in 1994, but that these gains have been largely eroded in the ensuing years of the post-apartheid era. We review the range of policy initiatives that have been taken by the government since 1994 in the light of our empirical findings.