Yes, like all other countries we have challenges. Crime, poverty and HIV/Aids being the biggest. At the heart is poverty - or at least the lack of shared wealth. Too much is still in the hands of a small (mostly white) minority. We have the systems in place to address this - affirmative action specifically aimed at benefiting the previously disadvantaged. These policies have been integrated into our procurement system in innovative ways, as well as in the workplace. At the same time the government has brought electricity, running water and housing to millions of people. We are very much a work in progress. Slow progress, but progress nonetheless. Change doesn't happen overnight.
And we have won the rugby world cup - twice!
We have shown how democracy can be a powerful way to bring real benefits to all people in South Africa. Since 1994 we have experienced mostly all the good and great things of having a democracy.
And then there was Zuma.
Zuma has just been elected as the leader of the ANC - the political party I supported and voted for in South Africa. He is now in a perfect position to become the next President of South Africa. The 'Comrades' at the Congress celebrated his win as proof that democracy works and that anyone can be elected as a leader in a free and fair election.
Zuma is an idiot. I have met him a few times and he is not the brightest spark. He has the charisma of a damp dishcloth. And the morals of a rat. He didn't deny sleeping with the young girl that was not only HIV positive, but also a family friend. Whether there was consent or not is irrelevant. You would expect more from someone who is supposed to be a leader we look up to - who should be a shining light for us to follow. And the fact that he took a shower afterwards to 'ensure' he doesn't 'catch' HIV speaks to his intellect. And I am not even going to go into the corruption charges. How the hell can the ANC Women's League justify supporting this guy during the election? And we all saw Zuma speak at the COSATU Congress - how could you even think for a minute he would be a leader for the workers or the people?
I know that people don't like Mbeki, but you don't drink cyanide just because you don't like Coke. Pick something else that won't kill you. Okay, cyanide will kill you quicker than Zuma, but the outcome will be the same - Zuma will drag everything that Madiba and all our great leaders have worked for through the mud. We will be the laughing stock of the world. Mbeki is a statesman respected across the world for not bending to popular demand, but sticking to what is just and right. Well, most of the time - he is fallible (read his HIV/Aids policies). Mbeki is a giant compared to Zuma.
What really gets to me is the fact that these same 'Comrades' will be the ones bitching and moaning about Bush and other world leaders , but especially Bush. As they used to say at union meeting - 'Comrade, you are out of order'. You lost your right to criticize the democratically elected leaders from other countries when you elected Zuma as your leader. Bush might be an idiot with policies we don't like or agree with, but he was democratically elected (twice) by his people - just like Zuma. So, stop your bitching about Bush or Brown - or even Mugabe - you got Zuma. YOU voted him in. YOU are responsible. YOU will be the laughing stock of the world. YOU just lost your right to bitch.
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