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NEWS & LETTERS, June 2004Our Life and Times by Kevin A. BarrySouth Africa’s anniversaryThis spring, South Africa marked the tenth anniversary of the end of apartheid, one of the most brutal of the 20th century’s totalitarian systems. A decade ago the liberationist African National Congress (ANC) won national elections and assumed power. Under Nelson Mandela and then under his designated successor Thabo Mbeki, the ANC has overseen the formation of Africa’s most democratic society. A new constitution has established freedom of the press and of association, trade union rights, women’s rights, and gay and lesbian rights. There is an atmosphere of tolerance toward ethnic minorities, whether Indian, white, or mixed race. The economy retains much strength, with the per capita Gross Domestic Product similar to that of Poland. At the same time, however, this transition from a racist and authoritarian regime to a bourgeois democracy has shown the limits of a merely political emancipation that leaves the rule of capital in place. While political power and some degree of wealth have flowed to a small Black elite, 45% of the population still has to live on less than $2 per day. This social chasm is widening, at a time when unemployment stands at 42%. Fully 80% of the land is still owned by the formerly ruling white minority, while some 11% of the population is HIV-positive. Sooner or later, these deep class divisions will find a way of expressing themselves, to the detriment of the new Black elite. |
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