Abstract
South Africa is one of the last African states to attain liberation from colonial rule. It was ushered into democratic order after one of the most prolonged and painful racial struggles. In 1994 it was heralded as an example of peaceful transition with one of the best constitutions in the world. It was called the “Rainbow Nation” and Madiba Magic. At that stage, the world looked at the new state as the shining example for the rest of Africa. But today, the country has the greatest gap between the rich and the poor in the world. Extreme poverty, inequality, and unemployment are at the centre of the economic ills of the country. In fact, South Africa is reckoned to have one of the largest gaps between rich and poor in the world. The important question is: How did the country decline to the position where it finds itself today? This paper attempts to analyse the trajectory the country took after 1994’s first democratic election to where it is today. Extreme poverty, violence, corruption, greed, bitterness, entitlement mentality and political opportunism are the constituent elements that are plaguing the country.
Highlights
South Africa gained its independence from colonial yoke in 1994 when Nelson Mandela became the first black and democratically elected president
The democratic order for South Africa was accepted with euphoria both locally and internationally
The results were a chronic culture of violence and severe bitterness (Muller n.d.:45-63) that became the power of the powerless. It was under these exuberant expectations and [false] hopes that South Africa was seen as a winning miracle by the world when the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), though a project of extreme ambition, was launched
Summary
South Africa gained its independence from colonial yoke in 1994 when Nelson Mandela became the first black and democratically elected president. The democratic order for South Africa was accepted with euphoria both locally and internationally. It unleashed unprecedented (often unrealistic) expectations among those black millions who identified themselves with the cause of the most brutal struggle in the history of the country. Fuelled by political promises from the African National Congress (ANC) that led to sweeping victory in the first elections, many black people saw themselves arriving in the “promised land” flowing with milk and honey after toiling for so many years under the heinous system of apartheid. South Africa had taken the lead of African pan-unionism (Ibid 2007:3) and was seen as a beacon of peace
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