#SouthAfrica summary thoughts Three Tenners South Africa PT 18

As usual on my trips I try to make a final summary. This is a personal view of South Africa - gleaned from the (short) time there - the things I have seen,  the people I have spoken to and the things I have read. Usual disclaimer - my judgements and views maybe inaccurate or wrong - ha!

Where to start (and in no particular order) ?!

Well - first of all South Africa is a beautiful big country with masses of space. Apart from the modern centres of the few large cities of SA all building is single storey. There are vast tracks of land and wide open good quality quiet roads that makes road travel easy and practical.

SA is massively bigger than the UK in land mass but has a population of about 20 million less so it is not surprising it feels spacious to us.

Security is an issue although thankfully we experienced no problems. The coastal routes seem safe and fine for backpackers. However this is not a place to take chances - particularly at night. The white community are barriered away behind gated barbed wire - and according to white people we spoke to thefts, burglaries and assaults happen regularly.

On the road we see mile after mile after mile of open "farmland" although we were puzzled by a lack of big agriculture. On investigation - due to the aridity of the land, only 13.5 percent can be used for crop production, and only 3 percent is considered high potential land. This explains the lack of activity and is a surprise.

SA has no significant oil of its own (yet - because there is still some hope - we saw one rig in Mossel Bay) but mineral wealth such as gold and diamonds have been largely dug out and the major mining companies have moved on to Namibia and Botswana.

When Nelson Mandela and the ANC was elected in 1994 as President and government and apartheid ended SA (and the world) was full have hope for the future of SA and its people. Have those hopes been realised 20 years on? Of course it is a mixed picture. My view :

• It is a great thing and necessary that apartheid ended and everyone became equal under the law.
• The problems of depravation and division in society when the ANC took over were massive and expectations for the future in the black community so high. It would therefore be easy to criticise the ANC government for what they have achieved in the last 20 years.
• At this point I will mention BEE. It stands for Black Economic Empowerment. To save me time I have downloaded from Wiki :

Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) is a racially selective programme launched by the South African government to redress the inequalities of Apartheid by giving certain previously disadvantaged groups (Blacks, Coloureds, Indians, and Chinese who arrived before 1994)^[1] of South African citizens economic privileges previously not available to them. Although race is the overriding factor, it includes measures such as Employment Preference, skills development, ownership, management, socioeconomic development, and preferential procurement.

After the transition from Apartheid in 1994, it was decided by the government of the African National Congress that direct intervention in the redistribution of assets and opportunities was needed to resolve the economic disparities created by Apartheid policies which had favoured white business owners. BEE intended to transform the economy to be representative of the demographics, specifically race demographics of the country.

Critics argue that BEE's aim was to attempt to create equality of the workforce of South Africa as a whole by enforcing the advantaging of the previously disadvantaged and the disadvantaging the previously advantaged. This results in businesses having to consider the race and social background of any potential applicant instead of making decisions purely based on qualifications and experience, resulting in a system in which one's race is often the determining factor in finding employment.

• I am not saying BEE is a bad thing. Actually I think it is and was necessary. We have spoken to some  young white SA girls who do not see it as a particular problem either. However young white men we spoke to feel there is no future for them. Many want to leave SA - because SA is against them despite their skills. Older Afrikanner types struggle with the new world order and are resentful of it. On Afrikaner types we met some lovely people but we also observed some with bad attitudes - simmering superiority and contained aggression not helped by the guttural tones of their language/accent. White Afrikaners still have much of the wealth and they are clinging on to it. Many think if they don't SA has no future because the Black community do not have the skills or endeavour to build SA going forward. Highly controversial and contentious views of course.
• I would say that while apartheid has gone integration has not really happened. Black and whites certainly live in separate areas.

On the government there is a great deal of dissatisfaction with the ANC. Yet again the core problem is corruption and the current President Jacob Zuma. Again see Wiki

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Zuma

Zuma is a Zulu and tribalism remains significant in SA. Mandela was Xhosa

One name that has cropped up is Julius Malema. He formed the EFF in 2014 and has had a lot of electoral success and is growing. His stance is the ANC have not delivered - been too slow  in adjusting the balance between rich minority whites and impoverished blacks. He has been to Zimbabwe to see how Mugabe's "land grab" has worked and believes in similar type policies for SA. Some whites believe SA is the next Zimbabwe. Already whites are selling land and renting it instead to avoid asset loss and criticism. The writing is on the wall - personally I think it is.

Economic Freedom Fighters

• 25 seats in the National Assembly
• Website: effighters.org.za

Contesting its first election in 2014, Economic Freedom Fighters is the third most popular party in South Africa, garnering 6.35% of the vote. Formed just eight months before the election, the party received more than 1-million votes in the national ballot, earning 25 seats in Parliament.

The EFF is also the official opposition in North West and Limpopo provinces.

The EFF was formed by Julius Malema after he was expelled by the ANC as leader of the Youth League in 2013. Malema, who declared himself leader of the party, carries the title, commander in chief.

The EFF describes itself as "a radical and militant economic emancipation movement" that is "pursuing the struggle for economic emancipation".

I could go on and on about SA. It is has fantastic potential as a tourist destination but evidently it has many problems to overcome - drought, diminished resources, political instability and poor economic performance. The future is going to be a rocky road and while I want to sound optimistic I don't really feel it. Gradually the white community will leave. Many international businesses are already doing so. Barclays is the latest. The Chinese are cashing in - but how sustainable is that?

Having said all of that it is important to acknowledge SA is only 20 years in to building its new future. Mistakes will be made and it will be a slow process if it gets there. Lets hope it does because we got a great response from many people and especially many black people we met who were nice to us.

On a touristy note - the £ and $ goes a long way against the ZAR. Things are cheap for visitors to SA but SA beer is terrible. Meat dominates there menus. Their food is not great! Also public transport is poor. The beaches/coast and mountains are spectacular and it is a fabulous place for trekking and hiking.