Lucia

de Vernai

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May 19, 2008

Below the Surface, All Is Not Well in South Africa (Sort of Like the U.S.)

Incomplete information about the world continues to challenge our ideas about democracy and its benefits in other countries. The intense violence that marred lives for almost a century in South Africa under the apartheid system has returned. This time, it is not racial but xenophobic, raising the question of whether majority rule is really all it takes to solve social ills justly.

Over the course of the past week, South Africans have attacked refugees from neighboring countries, killing a dozen and severely wounding more than 50. The attacks were fueled by rage – the victims burned or beaten to death, attacked at a church during the day. Thousands of immigrants from Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique have sought haven in South Africa from the crises that ail their countries – the inflation rate of 165,000 percent that affects Zimbabwe every year or the malnutrition in Malawi.

Yet as South Africa’s economic situation began to worsen and the country continued to fall victim to one of the world’s highest crime rates, fellow Africans have become the scapegoats for the increasingly frustrated population.

South Africa has been considered an inspiration to those fighting for freedom and equality through its grassroots movements for racial equality, voting reform and the unique way it has dealt with its violent past. In our appreciation of how far it has come, we seem to have forgotten that the struggles of the democratic South Africa are far from over. It is easy to focus on the positive like hosting of the biggest World Cup to date in 2010. The first one held in Africa since the beginning of the event, it has already drawn far more investment than the last tournament, held in Germany.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that the communications and transportation infrastructure are not prepared to handle the number of visitors predicted for the event, and has not yet implemented a large-scale plan to prepare. Similarly, while the tournament is drawing record investment numbers, South African workers are already threatening to protest if there is not enough work for them. Combined with the violence of the past week, it is apparent that the country we associate with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the inspiring words of Nelson Mandela is bound by far more.

Abstract, often out-of-context aspects of American life can be equally puzzling to the rest of the world. For example, the illegal immigration debate stumps many. Isn’t America the land of opportunity, after all? The mass media exports the image of the U.S. as a cornucopia of abundance and the relentless drive for more. Those Americans must be so selfish if they don’t want to share all they have!

Police intervention in South African towns is likely to control the violent symptoms of a much deeper socio-economic problem. This holds true in the U.S. as well, if only those watching from across the Atlantic were to look beyond the surface.

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