Republican News · Thursday 27 February 2002

Challenges remain for the new South Africa

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Recently returned from a Parades Commission-sponsored trip to South Africa, Sinn Féin Councillor EOIN Ó BROIN reflects on the state of the transition, almost nine years after the coming to power of Mandela's ANC.

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Despite serious problems, it would be wrong to accuse the ANC of failing to deliver on its longstanding commitments to equality and social justice. The enormity of the task facing the government is far greater than many of us can imagine, and the progress made to date cannot be scoffed at

Sun City, once a focus of anti-apartheid sentiment, today stands as a living breathing monument to all that was rotten in apartheid South Africa. Built as a haven for wealthy white South Africans shunned by the rest of the world, nine years after the fall of the ancien regime it plays host to tourists from across the continent and the world. Its sleazy 1970s-style kitch design is reminiscent of the excess of JR Ewing's Dallas and the cheapness of Dinero's Casino.

Outside the closely guarded gates to the tourist Mecca lies a poorly maintained road that stretches through the beautiful South African countryside of Pilansberg. Travelling the two-hour northward journey from the country's administrative capital, Pretoria, the observant visitor is offered a telling glimpse of the contradictions that continue to exist in one of the world's youngest democracies.

Dotted along the brown and green plains that stretch out for miles, you can see corrugated iron homes in their hundreds. Squatter camps, rural shanty villages, family homes no bigger than a single Ford Transit van. These dwellings are part of the old South Africa, the living consequences of decades of state-sponsored inequality and racism.

Amid the old tin shacks can be found an increasing number of solid brick homes, funded by the ANC government's housing programs. In some places, entire estates have been built, with bright, secure and proud homes. These are the symbols of the new South African Republic.

Black citizens are for the first time in history availing of public services as equals. The ANC has undertaken an extensive programme of house building, electrification and water supply which, in eight years, has brought clean water to 1.3 million rural people. It has built homes accommodating 5 million people and connected 1.75 million homes to the electricity grid.

Access to health has also improved, with 500 new clinics ensuring that 5 million people have real access to primary health care for the first time.

This list of achievements formed a central part of Thabo Mbeki's State of the Nation address, which accompanied the opening of parliament earlier this month. His theme was not simply to applaud the changes that have taken place to date; he also promised to accelerate the pace of change. Underlying this promise is an unspoken acknowledgment that, almost a decade after the ending of apartheid, life for many of South African citizens remains in many ways unchanged.

Black unemployment currently sits at 55%, while the standard of living for the poorest 40% of the population has actually decreased since 1994.

Mbeki's economic strategy consists of stabilising the South African economy by focusing on attracting multinational inward investment while encouraging indigenous black entrupeneurship. This cautious approach has meant that very little change has taken place in the economic structure of the country.

Putting it more bluntly, political apartheid may have ended, but economic apartheid is alive and well, with all the obvious consequences.

A cruel indicator of this reality can be found in the ongoing HIV/AIDS crisis, that has gripped the country since the mid-1980s. More than 1 million people have died from AIDS related illnesses in this period. More worryingly, AIDS campaigners were amongst the most critical of Mbeki's State of the Nation address, accusing him of failing to support a national strategy for tackling the virus and in particular refusing to provide retro-viral drug treatments for those living with HIV.

This criticism was shared by the ANC trade union alliance COSATU, who accused Mbeki of walking away from the agreed national strategy and minimising the nature of the problem. COSATUís concerns are significant because they signal a growing rift between the unions and government over issues such as privatisation of public services, the escelating crime problem and deepening levels of poverty and social exclusion. Similar concerns are also detectable in the ANC's other alliance partner the South African Community Party.

Such concerns appear to be aggravated by a series of high profile corruption scandals at the heart of the ANC's national leadership.

In the same week as the opening of parliament, former ANC Chief Whip Tony Yengeni was convicted of fraud and corruption. Only days later, accusations were levelled against two senior ANC figures for accepting bribes and gifts in the course of major government arms deals. Whatever the outcome of the proceedings that are sure to follow these allegations, the impact on the confidence of ordinary people cannot be underestimated.

Despite these serious problems, it would be wrong to accuse the ANC of failing to deliver on its longstanding commitments to equality and social justice. The very fact that such a senior figure has been convicted and may face jail is surely an indication that the new South Africa is taking its commitments to equality before the law very seriously indeed. Can any of us imagine a Haughey or Lowrey or Burke serving time in jail for their part in corruption? Likewise with the social and economic problems which persist. The enormity of the task facing the government is far greater than many of us can imagine, and the progress made to date cannot be scoffed at.

Rather, the concerns aired above stand as reminders of the devastating legacy of apartheid and its continuing impact on the lives of millions of people. It woud be wrong for those of us, speaking from the confort of western Europe to stand and point fingers at our African comrades. Those of us who looked to the ANC for inspiration in the past, or supported the anti-apartheid struggle would do well to ask ourselves what role we can play in helping the transition in its ultimate goal - real freedom for all the people of South Africa.

We could start by ensuring that we have a real understanding and appreciation of the enormity of the task facing South Africa and the great distance that country has travelled in eight short years. Moreover, we should find ways, no matter how small, of supporting the ongoing struggle for an equal South Africa.

The Pilansberg Road to Sun City contains a visual tableau that encapsulates South Africa's past and present. It also serves as a profound reminder of how much has yet to be achieved for the democratic transition to bring real benefit to the majority of the country's citizens.

If you are one of those people who for years refused to buy South African produce as part of the struggle against apartheid, then today you could make another consumer choice, this time to help build the new South Africa.

This summer, don't holiday in Turkey or Spain - whose governments are involved in the most serious breaches of human and civil rights - rather travel to South Africa. And while learning about the realities of the post-apartheid Republic, take some time to enjoy a country that is as beautiful and welcoming as it is intriguing.