30 years on, South Africa's dream of unity lies shattered – DW – 04/27/2024
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Thirty years after the end of apartheid, South Africa is looking back on a democratic but deeply divided society. Political divisions have fueled a growing disappointment with Nelson Mandela's liberation party, the ANC.

Thirty years after the end of apartheid, South Africa is looking back on a democratic but deeply divided society. Political divisions have fueled a growing disappointment with Nelson Mandela’s liberation party, the ANC.

As a newly democratic country, South Africa got off to a euphoric start with its first free elections in 1994.

People queued up for hours to cast their votes, full of hope, optimism and joy. That positive spirit continued as Nelson Mandela was elected president after spending 27 years in prison.

The African National Congress (ANC), Mandela’s political party and former anti-apartheid movement, came into power, ending not only white minority rule but centuries of colonialist mentality. It’s still in power today.

However, looking back on the past 30 years, the assessment on the state of Mandela’s “rainbow nation” is sober: The economy in the Cape of Good Hope is ailing, society is still divided along racial lines and people feel their politicians don’t understand them.

Meanwhile, the gap between rich and poor has kept growing — despite the fact that the ANC made the issue a central concern when it came to power in 1994. Frustration over these shattered dreams runs deep.

  • juicy@lemmy.todayEnglish
    38·
    5 months ago

    Strawman much? South Africa eliminated political apartheid, but economic apartheid persists. They didn’t finish the job. When you have huge economic disparity, you are going to have resentment and unrest. White people are a tiny minority in SA, and their racism and violence during Apartheid made it what it is today. No shit SA has problems. You created them! My sympathy lies with the struggling poor who struggled under Apartheid and now struggle under a corrupt ANC.

      • juicy@lemmy.todayEnglish
        16·
        5 months ago

        They were born into an economic apartheid even if political apartheid has ended. And they’re only 7.3% of the population.

        Only 18% of the local population regularly use private providers and despite being much smaller than the public sector, it accounts for about half of expenditures. About 79% of doctors work privately, leaving only 21% of doctors for the public sector. The distribution of healthcare resources is inequitable because it disproportionately favors private health care. There are over 120 medical schemes that historically excluded black South Africans until 1970 and still mostly cater to wealthier demographics. Medical schemes vary by occupation and the capacity of people to afford them. The schemes requires members to pay copayments and for services not included in the benefits package. Only 16% of the population has a medical scheme because the cost is still a barrier to a majority of South Africans. About 73% of white individuals are members of a medical scheme, 52% of Asian individuals and only 10% of black Africans, indicating a clear racial disparity in private coverage.

        source

          • juicy@lemmy.todayEnglish
            16·
            5 months ago

            You’re holding on to that strawman so tight your knuckles are turning white.

              • juicy@lemmy.todayEnglish
                11·
                5 months ago

                My point is that it’s racist to focus on the plight of white people in a country where by any objective statistical standard white people are far better off than the rest of the country and are just a tiny minority. It’s like stepping over people bleeding out to put a bandaid on scraped knee.

                The white people in South Africa should have paid huge reparations. They got off easy, and now want us to feel sorry for them because they are experiencing some of the strife and violence that is the direct result of apartheid. They are like a physically abusive parent seeking sympathy when their adult children are openly hostile and struggling with mental health from the childhood abuse.