South Africa: A society still polarised by apartheid
Daily Nation (Kenya), by Rasna Warah (Kenya)
June 11, 2007

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Many believe that South Africa is a model for all African nations that are aspiring to combine a productive capitalistic economy with a caring social welfare system. But a recent trip to South Africa forced me to wonder whether economic growth and subsidies are enough to heal the wounds of a nation torn apart by apartheid.

With an economy growing at more than six per cent a year, healthy exports and a large manufacturing base, South Africa is considered sub-Sahara Africa’s success story. Almost 60 per cent of its population lives in urban areas and its GDP per capita in 2004 was $4,675, nearly 10 times that of Kenya.

However, despite impressive economic indicators, South Africa continues to suffer from the legacy of apartheid. The country ranks as among the most unequal societies in the world, with the richest 10 per cent of its population hogging 45 per cent of the country’s income, a level of inequality comparable only to that of Brazil, which partially explains the high crime rates in both countries. Violent crime is still the most talked-about problem in Nelson Mandela’s rainbow nation. One of the first things I was told by my hosts when I arrived in Johannesburg was not to walk in the city at night and not to trust anyone. This meant that I was under a self-imposed curfew during much of my stay there.

On the surface, Johannesburg has all the qualities of what are known as “world cities”. It is a regional hub of international capital flows and connectivity, which have earned it the title of “Africa’s only world class city”.Every major multinational company has a representative there and roads and other infrastructure have an air of Europe or America about them. And rising domestic consumption of goods and services is expanding to meet the needs of a rapidly growing black middle class.

But beneath the glossy surface lies a host of problems, which that manifested by insecurity and lingering mistrust between the different races. Fear stalks the streets of South Africa’s commercial capital. On the day I arrived, mini-bus taxi operators had been rioting just a few yards from my hotel. The sound of shots and police sirens filled the air. (For a while, if felt like I was in Nairobi.) But unlike Nairobi, where pedestrians outnumber drivers, many parts of Johannesburg look like ghost towns, with virtually no human traffic. In other world cities such as London and New York, walking on the streets is considered one of the benefits of city life, but in Johannesburg, people are prisoners of their cars.

One resident told me that if you are seen walking on the streets, and if you are black, it probably means you are too poor to afford a car or public transport, or that you are unemployed. (If the latter, you are also likely to be a mugger, he added.) Since the dismantling of apartheid in 1994, the government of South Africa has tried to introduce various subsidies to bridge the rich-poor divide.In the last 12 years, South Africa has built over two million houses, each measuring 30 square metres, for former shack dwellers and each household — regardless of income level — is entitled to 200 litres of free water per day.

Government subsidies are generous and tend to be given through participatory methods that involve local communities, and which are disbursed through decentralised mechanisms. A broad social security system now provides income support to nearly 12 million people, or nearly a quarter of the country’s population. But despite all these policies, change is clearly not happening fast enough for South Africa’s black majority. The effects of apartheid can still be felt in the free housing provided to people living in former “dormitory settlements” that once housed single migrant miners and factory workers.

Here, unemployment among urban youth is still high and violent crime is an everyday occurrence. (Fortunately, subsidies have averted the growth of Mungiki-like cartels that extort money from the poor in exchange for services.) Although there is a dire need of skilled labour, the domestic labour market cannot adequately fill white-collar jobs because it is ill-trained or under-educated. While South Africa has successfully managed to put in place affirmative action policies to uplift the living standards of the poor, the policies have clearly not kept pace with the rising expectations of South Africans.

As one South African told me, “When people are given free housing, free water and free education, they want more — they want a car, a nice job and all the other things that apartheid denied them, and they want them now.” The lesson Kenya can learn from the South African experience is that economic growth and subsidies cannot completely make up for past injustices. To fully recover from historical injustices, a nation must also heal its emotional wounds — and that is a much more daunting task.

Jeg er uenig i en del ting, blant annet at subsidiene er generøse. De er vanvittig lave, og - viktigere - de er utilstrekkelige. Jeg mener det skulle vaert Basic Income Grant her (ca tilsvarende arbeidsledighetsstotte i Norge,), noe alle kan få som trenger det, slik at man ikke må vaere syk (Disability Grant) eller ha fosterbarn (Foster Care Grant) for å få støtte. Slik ordningen er nå, har den en del uheldige konsekvenser. Et eksempel er at mennesker med hiv slutter med de gratis medisinene (ARVs) fordi de blir friske da og dermed mister støtten - og så dør de tidlig, i stedet for å vaere levende, friske og sterke nok til å ta vare på barn m.m. Det samme skjer med tuberkulose - og resultatet er XDR-TB (ekstremt resistent tuberkulose) og dødelige utganger av en sykdom som skulle vaert mulig aa behandle og overleve.

Men det er interessant å lese hva folk som kommer utenfra med høye forventinger ser og tenker når de kommer hit. Sør-Afrika er et glansbilde utad, men virkeligheten er langt fra så lykkelig som betegnelsen "regnbuenasjon" kan gi inntrykk av.

Men det er i hvert fall mye liv. Mye kamp for et bedre liv. Forhåpentligvis er det fremgang.