SIKANKU: Sixteen years after apartheid, South Africa remains polarized

By Etse Sikanku
Published: April 27, 2010 3:52 PM CDT

Sixteen years ago on April 27 1994, South Africa’s repressive; white supremacist regime came to an end after 46 years of apartheid.

That historic day arrived on the back of the larger than life Nelson Mandela, who declared a “rainbow nation”, to signify a new era of tolerance and diversity. Madiba’s hope then—just as now— was that South Africa will go on to become a bastion of African success.

The dream as he saw it then was that forgiveness rather than revenge would triumph. That moderation rather than extremism will prevail. And that despite its harsh history “the better angels” in South Africans will catapult the newly minted nation to prosperity. It all lay down right there before his eyes.

Except it didn’t.

A decade and a half after achieving this glorious moment, South Africa has decayed into a country with; one of the highest violent crime rates in the world, chronic poverty and the highest AIDs infection rates on the planet.

It’s a shame that some of the major challenges of the apartheid era-injustice and economic malaise—continue to plague many ordinary South Africans today. As Motsoko Pheko author of ‘The Hidden Side of South African Politics” aptly wrote, “their democracy is dispossession without repossession.”

Isn’t it ironic that part of the biggest threat to South Africa’s advancement today happens to come from not without but within the ANC itself? The rampant infighting within South Africa’s biggest party threatens to derail both previous progress and future initiatives.

Here, the question that needs to be asked is this: is ANC’s guaranteed electoral advantage leading to complacency within the party? Or was Mandela just too naïve about the future of South Africa’s “negotiated settlement”? Political freedom has been won but has this led to economic gains for ordinary South Africans?

In other words: Has poverty transcended issues of race to class as E.K Mathole suggests or is racial inequality still a major issue? With the abolishment of legal racism why is chronic deprivation still a major issue in South Africa today?

What would you say is the biggest threat to South Africa’s development as a nation? We’d like to hear your views on the current state of events in South Africa and what you think should be done or undone. Drop us a word or two if you can!