crime & security, leadership & reform, and World Cup 2010

Well, so five days in, and it feels like much longer. Some of that is certainly due to how hard my brain is working. I’m hearing different accents and languages all day, I’m having to look over the other shoulder and in the other direction for those cars I hear coming, and I’m having to process a lot of new data from my new surroundings. I am, of course, also on edge due to all the discussion and cautionary tales of violence and crime here. These stories started with the taxi ride from the airport, when I heard about youth dropping rocks onto cars from overpasses, and continued the next morning when a newspaper headline reported vandalism and theft at schools on the eve of their opening. While conversations and media coverage inevitable arrive at reports of crime, I’m keeping in mind the school building theft and park muggings that have recently happened almost literally in my own back yard in Seattle. Two other recurring, and related, themes so far have been preparations for the upcoming World Cup and evaluating the ruling ANC government. Any discussion of the ANC (South Africa’s dominant political party) invariably includes commentary on the controversial figure of Jacob Zuma, South Africa’s newly-elected president.

On the one hand, President Zuma is a celebrated hero of the resistance movement, a charismatic populist, and a beloved representative of the Zulu, the nation’s largest ethnic group. One the other, his critics condemn him for his leftist rhetoric and leanings, his alleged role in a corrupt major arms deal (involvement for which he was belatedly indicted and then controversially unindicted even as his close friend and associate was convicted and sent to prison), and his promiscuous lifestyle that includes multiple wives and a large family, on which he spends lavishly, and an accusation of rape that, although the case was dismissed, led to the exposure of some problematic attitudes about sex and AIDS. (As these stories have been covered in great detail, as you might imagine, more information about any of this is quite easy to find.)

The debate in the media, and among the few South Africans with whom I’ve had conversations about politics (an admittedly small and unrepresentative sample), seems to center around whether or not President Zuma is genuinely committed to making meaningful and sustainable progress on South Africa’s most pressing problems: infrastructure development, massive unemployment (currently near 30%), wealth redistribution, and delivery of basic services. One necessary step will be reigning in the rampant corruption that seems to afflict all levels of government (numerous ANC officials have been accused of enriching themselves at public expense) and to be rampant in the private sector as well. He will also have to decide whether or not to embrace post-apartheid reconciliation and help lead South Africa toward the non-racial democracy that its constitution envisions. Given apartheid’s undebatably shameful history and its damaging, and enduring legacies, it is easy – and often politically convenient – to blame the past for current problems. In fact, such claims inevitably have elements of truth to them. Any path forward is made all the more challenging by a host of other factors, including the global economic crisis, South Africa’s enduring (even worsening) economic inequality (still largely split along racial lines), and the ever-present spectre of Zimbabwe’s collapse and ongoing implosion.

Alec Russell ends his new book Bring Me My Machine Gun: the Battle for the Soul of South Africa from Mandela to Zuma, an excellent and up-to-date history of the post apartheid era (that gets its title from a resistance song) ends with an ominous warning about the fate of the nation if the ANC does not undertake significant reform:

“South Africa will – in a decade or so – find itself led by an ossified ruling party overseen by bickering apparatchiks presiding over a sclerotic dysfunctional state. The dreams of its becoming a beacon for the continent will lie in the dust.”

A chilling, sobering, and discouraging prospect.

However, against this disquieting backdrop is a pervasive resiliency and a cautious hopefullness. This can be seen well in the preparations for and enthusiasm about South Africa’s hosting of the upcoming World Cup. For the soccer-illiterate, this is, in terms of intensity and importance for its fans, the equivalent of March Madness or maybe the BCS, except the teams are from 32 different countries and the tournament is only held once every four years.

To be continued…