Politics...

Two weeks from now I will be grateful to be on American soil again. For a rainbow nation, there is so much race consciousness here - and the industry which must be doing very well in SA is the security industry. Guards, gates, razor wire, and armed response signs are everywhere. So ubiquitous that, after awhile, you don’t even see them anymore. Missed President Obama’s State of the Union speech this year, but I did see President Jacob Zuma on SA television, presenting his State of the Nation speech at the opening of Parliament on February 11, which was also the 20th anniversary of the freeing of Nelson Mandela from prison. Zuma’s speech sounded like the typical “State of the… “ speech, outlining accomplishments and future agendas. Nelson Mandela was present, sitting between Winnie and his current wife, Graca Machel. He is frail, looking up in surprise from the printed text of Zuma’s speech which he was reading, every time his name was mentioned. Afterwards, there was some footage of Archbishop Tutu, Nelson Mandela, and Jacob Zuma leaving the auditorium one behind the other.

Jacob Zuma succeeded Thabo Mbeki when he was ousted over some scandal last year. Of course, Zuma has been behaving scandalously too, both recently and several years ago when he was brought up on rape charges (but acquitted). A leader who claims that taking a shower after having sex with an HIV-positive woman makes it all better is not what this nation (with its high rates of HIV) needs. Recently, the media was also abuzz with the news that he had fathered his 20th child with a woman who is not one of his four or five wives, the daughter of a friend. His family had to make recompense to her family in the traditional Zulu style. Any South African I have spoken to here in Cape Town, regardless of race, thinks that Zuma is a disgrace. But he has a huge following elsewhere in the country, especially in KwaZulu-Natal province.

Capetonians are also not very satisfied with the ANC (African National Congress, the ruling party) anymore. Last year they elected Helen Zille as provincial head of state (for the Western Cape province) and, as head of her party, the Democratic Alliance, she has become a very vocal critic of Zuma. Zille is loved by Capetonians, liked by South Africans elsewhere and with her at the helm of the DA, may at least provide the nation with a viable opposition party, something I think SA very much needs. Zille is a white woman who first gained attention as a journalist when she was active in exposing many of the horrors of apartheid.

Discrimination in this country didn’t just start in 1948. Apartheid only codified what was happening for many years before: white supremacy and colonial rule which left a legacy of racial, economic and land segregation policies. The liberation struggle has been going on for over 100 years. ANC (outlawed during apartheid) was established early in the 20th century. According to what we are told, many changes have occurred in SA since its first democratic elections (1994) with many socio-economic improvements and improved equality and legislative reforms in the last decade. But SA continues to face inordinate challenges in relation to poverty and unemployment amidst its ambitious reconstruction and development plan. They say the divide between rich and poor continues to grow and continues to bear the scars of its apartheid history. A long way to go before the dream of being a rainbow nation where all the colors are equal is realized…and they need another Nelson Mandela.