At the very tip of Southern Africa lies a nation that is rich in resources and History. The winding hills of our lands from Stellenbosch to the bustling metropolises of Johannesburg and Pretoria, are truly sights to behold. At present, our country's immense beauty and ever-changing landscapes are only matched by the deep-seeded corruption and social unrest that has discoloured, what many had termed "The Rainbow Nation".
As a young South African, I never experienced the legitimized segregation that was Apartheid. We were part of the first generation of babies born after Apartheid concluded in April 1994. It is important to note that Apartheid did not come to a sudden and dramatic end, more so that it died a slow and painful death. In February four years prior, the African National Congress or ANC was unbanned. This was partly due to external, international pressure that other nations and people placed on South Africa, and internal pressure that civil society and terrorist organizations like the ANC were putting on the government.
With all this being said, the turning point for the Apartheid regime was the climax of the Cold War. The main reason for upholding the legislation surrounding Apartheid, at least according to the National Party (The Apartheid Government), was to stop the spread of Communism in South Africa. In order to achieve this, they banned the ANC and various other groups that were opposed to Apartheid in 1960, under the Suppression of Communism Act. This line of reasoning that can be akin to the McCarthyism was the official line for South Africa to intervene in the proxy-wars in Africa that the Cold War had wrought.
This is not to say that South Africa was alone in these endeavors. The state received help from the United States and Britain in terms of counter-intelligence. South Africa did not need financial assistance; we were forced to develop industries due to the sanctions that many other countries had placed on us. As an indicator of South Africa's economic sustainability, at one stage the South African Rand was one to one with the American Dollar.
The above graph is our exchange rate with the US Dollar. The Data Range is from 1970 to date. The coloured lines I added in are approximations to represent specific historical circumstances. The red line is the unbanning of the ANC, the yellow line is when the ANC won the general elections and assumed power, but for the rest of the post, I will be focusing on the green line. This line represents when the current ANC president and President of the Country, Jacob Zuma assumed the presidency of the ANC in 2007.
I need to clarify something before I go any further, the ANC of old was not perfect. Nelson Mandela was believe still is considered by some to be a terrorist and a criminal, because he was the leader of the ANC's armed rebellion against the Apartheid Government and a key-player in the South African Communist Party. And Thabo Mbeki, the incumbent president from 1999 to 2008. This means that while Thabo Mbeki was serving his last year as president of the Republic, Jacob Zuma was president of the ANC. After a string of controversies, including his moronic stance on HIV/AIDS which saw the rates of HIV skyrocket in the country, he was forced to step down by higher-ups in the ANC. This paved the way for Jacob Zuma, a man that at one stage was accused and later acquitted of rape and a man that has 783 charges of corruption currently in litigation, becoming president of the Republic of South Africa. Which is in and of itself deplorable, but it's not the worst thing an African Leader has ever done. Here's looking at you, Robert Mugabe. This quagmire can be simplified as follows:
Jacob Zuma used his position and influence in the ANC to gain the presidency and he has surrounded himself with friends and pawns alike in all spheres of government to secure his power. House of Cards has nothing on South African politics. The ANC of old, which I fundamentally disagree with on principle, is nothing to the hate I feel for the current administration. But it is the majority of the populous that keeps the ANC in power, and the horrid irony is that most of the population lives in conditions such as these.
Now the obviously poignant question I can here bellowing to me from the Steemit Community is "Why?". The majority of South Africa forms part of the black demographic, and they are terrified of another form of Apartheid gripping the country. With the only credible threat to the ANC coming from the Democratic Alliance, a party that is seen to be run and owned by white interests, it may prove difficult to break the ANC's majority.
Jacob Zuma has also survived 8 motions of no confidence, a record number of any head of state and a dubious honour at that. Unemployment has also shot up under the current administration's leadership. The glaring value on the graph is the unemployment rate from the 2002-2003 period. This can excuse the current administration, but it cannot excuse the ANC as a party, which has been in power since 1994.
I see this disparity, depravity and deplorable behaviour every day. And the situation has become so dire for the average person living in South Africa that crime rates have also climbed steeply since 1994.
"However‚ in 2015/2016 around 51 murders were being reported daily‚ placing the total number of murders in that period at 18 673 – a difference of over 7200.
So things are getting better, it seems.
Well, not so fast.
As the group’s crime analyst, Kerwin Lebone, says, “South Africa still holds a significantly higher murder rate in comparison to others countries”:
The country’s murder rate is almost 29 times higher than that of Australia‚ 30 times higher than the United Kingdom and 45 times higher than Germany.
“South Africans live with horrific levels of violent crime. While the murder rate has fallen since 1994‚ at 31.9 per 100 000 people‚ it remains one of the highest in the world‚” said Lebone." (Times Live, 2017)
As stated above there is a myriad of evidence to that South Africa is a failed state, and I would agree except on one vital point and that is the people. We try our best to get along despite all the shit we are faced with. We have a history of resistance that dates back over 200 years, and we aren't about to give up now.
I am Rambro, and I am a South African Liberterian
