Comments on: The State of South African Politics http://africa.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/07/13/the-state-of-south-african-politics/ The largest network of international affairs blogs online Thu, 08 Jan 2009 23:14:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=wordpress-mu-1.0 by: Derek Catsam http://africa.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/07/13/the-state-of-south-african-politics/#comment-782 Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:55:30 +0000 http://africa.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/07/13/the-state-of-south-african-politics/#comment-782 Geo Washington -- i frankly reject your argument about the inexorable state of change for ill in South Africa. Frankly, I think it is based on a lot of nonsense and misconceptions, not the least of which have to do with the nature of what came before 1990. The idea that things are even comparably bad now is absurd and possibly malicious. You name a number of measurements by which things are worse, yet most are rather anecdotal and based on what is clearly a rather limited data set. Housing, access to elecricity, water, services, and education are not only significantly better than in 1994, they are so far better as to make one wonder if you are not willfully ignoring the progress in these areas, or perhaps choosing not to see them. there are an awful lot of indicators out there that show change since 1994, and I would argue that most of that change has been for good, substantially so. dc Geo Washington –
i frankly reject your argument about the inexorable state of change for ill in South Africa. Frankly, I think it is based on a lot of nonsense and misconceptions, not the least of which have to do with the nature of what came before 1990. The idea that things are even comparably bad now is absurd and possibly malicious.
You name a number of measurements by which things are worse, yet most are rather anecdotal and based on what is clearly a rather limited data set. Housing, access to elecricity, water, services, and education are not only significantly better than in 1994, they are so far better as to make one wonder if you are not willfully ignoring the progress in these areas, or perhaps choosing not to see them.
there are an awful lot of indicators out there that show change since 1994, and I would argue that most of that change has been for good, substantially so.

dc

]]> by: Geo Washington http://africa.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/07/13/the-state-of-south-african-politics/#comment-772 Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:55:43 +0000 http://africa.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/07/13/the-state-of-south-african-politics/#comment-772 I was there when N. Mandela became a free man. I remember the poor conditions of the majority population. I've been back every year since. Each year the poor conditions of the majority have gotten worse and worse. The rule of law as weaken ed and weakened. It has gotten more and more risky to walk down a street or walk on the beach. The AIDS population has gone from 10 to 40%. Most education is still done in the private schools for the elite (black and white). Mbeki has been spineless with his former ANC boosters. The new constitution is representative of all and yet represents nobody--there is no national strategy or will to tackle any of the national problems. Every year is a year closer to having a Robert Mugabe figure take over because the legislature is simply a show horse . I was there when N. Mandela became a free man. I remember the poor conditions of the majority population. I’ve been back every year since. Each year the poor conditions of the majority have gotten worse and worse. The rule of law as weaken ed and weakened. It has gotten more and more risky to walk down a street or walk on the beach. The AIDS population has gone from 10 to 40%. Most education is still done in the private schools for the elite (black and white). Mbeki has been spineless with his former ANC boosters. The new constitution is representative of all and yet represents nobody–there is no national strategy or will to tackle any of the national problems. Every year is a year closer to having a Robert Mugabe figure take over because the legislature is simply a show horse .

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