Exit Mandela, Enter Unease

"Even though Mandela was not the president, he was still controlling. Right now, people are scared of what is going to happen because Mandela was a father figure. These guys -- Zuma and the others -- they're not like him. We were just waiting for Mandela to die and now we don't know what is going to happen because people don't trust Zuma."
Tichaona Mutero, 30, Cape Town

"Ever since Nelson Mandela left office everything went wrong. If everyone was on Mandela's wavelength, South Africa would be a better place. I feel like our political leaders are misleading us. All we hear is of them hanging out in luxury hotels.
"Those in power now don't want to pursue the dream Mandela had. They drive past in their Mercedes and BMWs all the time."
Kenosi Dlamini, 18, Cape Town

"Life was harsh in exile. You gave up a lot. No longer -- joining the ANC is the gateway to opportunity and wealth. You go there to get rich, to get a top job. You really are a fool if you don't join."
Allister Sparks, former editor, Rand Daily Mail

"Yes, we were oppressed by white people; yes, it happened; yes, it hurt. But let us forgive each other so that we can move on fully and contribute fully to the South Africa we want to see in the future."
Nokuthula Magubane, 18, South African born-free [after Apartheid]

South Africa, though thought of as a success and a rising economic power, now part of the BRICS group of emerging national economies -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- has a fairly wobbly economy. There are those who argue that Mr. Mandela's vision for South Africa was betrayed by those who succeeded him.

When in power, the Mandela government courted foreign investors, slashed its spending, and began a long period of growth. That economic stability is coming under attack with a high and yet growing unemployment and continuing economic inequality. The jobless rate stands at 24.7%; average black household earnings remain a sixth of those of their white counterparts. One in five South Africans have no formal housing, 2.3 million households have no toilets.

"We still have racial unemployment, racial poverty and racial inequality", said Sidumo Dlamini, president of the 2.2-million-member Congress of South African Trade Unions, a member of the ruling alliance. "Our country is still in white hands." Does that statement auger well for continued colour-blind cooperation?

The state's anti-corruption body accuses a cabinet minister of "reckless dealings with state money and services, resulting in fruitless and wasteful expenditure."

New details emerged only a week ago about President Jacob Zuma's flagrant waste of public funds to rebuild his home at Nkandia in Kwa-Zulu Natal province. He insisted that state funds were used for essential security measures only, as required by his position as president. A swimming pool, an amphitheatre, housing for relatives, a cattle kraal and a chicken coop were all required security measures for the president's personal home.

In 2007, Jacob Zuma assumed control of the ruling African National Congress from Thabo Mbeki whose own leadership in the wake of Nelson Mandela's decision not to run for politics again was not a spectacular success. Under Mr. Mbeki crime soared, rapes were endemic, corruption had a field day, anti AIDs measures were ignored and ignorance ruled supreme. In that regard, nothing has changed under President Zuma.

Weeks after prosecutors dropped charges against Mr. Zuma for taking bribes from arms dealers he became president of South Africa, in 2009. In 2006 he had been acquitted of rape charges. Despite that he had most certainly raped a trusting young woman, a family friend who was afflicted with HIV. All of which left South Africa in capable hands, hands whose fidelity to corruption, nepotism and personal enrichment were skilled indeed.

"We need to practise more what he [Nelson Mandela] taught us. There are day-to-day squabbles and chronic problems, and instead of coming together to fix them, we are moving further apart", complained 22-year-old Faraz Laher. "That unity between races here, it's going. Perhaps now, with Madiba's passing, we will remember how important it is; maybe he can unite us again", said 25-year-old David Van Schalkwyk, optimistically.

Many historical analysts argue that Mr. Mandela's initiative for reconciliation had a cost: socio-economic disparities produced by apartheid have never been addressed fully. The ANC under Mr. Mandela's presidential mandate abandoned policies for nationalizing industries and redistributing wealth.

"You can argue this was a smart, judicious, pragmatic thing to do. I think, myself, you could as easily say it was a sellout. This is a hard call. The ANC ditched the people, and they made a separate peace with capitalism, and the society is unequal and full of discontent because of it", said John Saul, professor emeritus of political science, York University.

"Without more effective and sustained job creation, and soon, a mismatch between these expectations and the capacity of the economy to absorb young people is inevitable, and will have consequences."
Reconciliation Barometer; yearly gauge of public opinion

Ben Curtis December 6, 2013