South African Election

[Skeptisk]

Doesn’t seem to be getting that much press coverage but there is a general election in South Africa now, with the ANC expected to lose their overall majority.

I’ve a few South African friends. Sounds like the country is heading in the wrong direction: massive unemployment, corruption, power outages, brain drain, violence.

After the euphoria of defeating apartheid the reality of the past thirty years has been sobering. SA has fallen behind other countries such as Malaysia, which it was on par with 30 years ago.

[Mastodon2]

I seem to bump into a huge number of South Africans working around Europe, mostly in decent jobs. They're the ones with the skills to work and the wherewithal to leave.

When I ask them why they left, they all say the same thing. Its a beautiful country and they miss it, but they can all see which way the political situation is going. The writing is on the wall.

[TonyRPH]

Skeptisk said:

<snip>

Sounds like the country is heading in the wrong direction: massive unemployment, corruption, power outages, brain drain, violence.

<snip>

Understatement of the century.

The country started heading in the wrong direction the moment that Nelson Mandela retired, and the downward spiral took a hefty increase in speed when he sadly died.

Speak to any Zimbabwean and they'll tell you that SA has gone exactly the same way, which IMHO was inevitable.

Endemic corruption (responsible for the power outages amongst other things).
Anti white sentiment (see Julius Malema).

When we left in 1996 things had already taken a significant turn for the worst, and it's got a lot, lot worse since then (I still have a brother and sister over there, so well informed).

SA is a beautiful country, with more than enough space for everyone.

It's a sad situation.

[Don Roque]

SA is a country that has been in decline for thirty years and now it is reaching rock bottom. Anyone with the skill and sense and sense to go has surely left already. It will be interesting to see what happens now but I don't thinks anyone left can fix it.

[dukeboy749r]

Sadly, as a continent, the overwhelming impression of Africa is of a series of countries that vie with one another for being amongst the most corrupt (systemically) of all nations and which, despite an abundance of natural resources, list corruption by all politicians and leaders as their leading attributes.

FWIW, I am Liberian. and my country has often been near the bottom in many senses - despite a lack of natural resources.

We have just had mostly the corruption.

[Catweazle]

I'm surprised to find this on page three, anyway here's the result.

[url]BBC News - South Africa's ANC has to share power after election blow
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cyeek2xlgzzo[/ur...

[TonyRPH]

Catweazle said:

I'm surprised to find this on page three, anyway here's the result.

BBC News - South Africa's ANC has to share power after election blow

Fixed the link.

[ChocolateFrog]

Press always seem to tread incredibly lightly, apartheid seems to have given the ANC the best st deflector they could have ever hoped for.

Ultimately why should we care? It's a democracy 10000 miles away. I could think of enough stories to relegate the SA elections to the "and finally" section of the news.