The tenth anniversary of post-apartheid South Africa was celebrated, in glowing terms, by much of the world's media. From the CBC and the left-wing media you would think that the ANC controlled country was a mini-paradise. Think again. While in comparison to the rest of Africa it is still the economic champ, it is quickly disintegrating into chaos and commercial decline. A few of the reasons why follow.
1. Perhaps nothing illustrates this erosion better than the crime statistics. Last year there were over 15,000 carjackings. This type of crime is so tied to blacks that South Africans refer to it as "affirmative driving". Late at night in the large cities nobody stops for red lights for fear of robbers assaulting them.
2. The overall crime rate is astronomical, but the most chilling is the murder rate -- arguably the highest in the world, or at least equal to, Colombia's. It is estimated that since the Iraqi invasion, between 7,000 and 10,000 civilians have been killed; however, the total for that time period in South Africa is 15,000. Since the ANC has taken power, over a 1,000 white farmers have been murdered. Most appalling is that many of these killings have come after the victims have been raped and brutally tortured. The ANC has tried to portray these deeds as the result of disaffected criminal gangs. The white farmers see it as a deliberate reign of terror to force whites off the land. In contrast, while Mugabe's thugs are forcing white to leave their farms, only 11 cases have involved whites being murdered. The average murder rate in SA is 58 per 100,000 (compared to 1.3 in England and Wales) -- but the murder rate for white farmer is 313 per 100,000. The middle class--white or black--is forced to live in what amount to fortresses, with guard dogs and razor wire walls. The truly wealthy have increasingly fled the country, taking their wealth with them. Imagine Kubrick's movie, A Clockwork Orange done in blackface and you have it.
3. The uneasy peace between the Zulus and the Xoshas is unravelling. Before apartheid ended, these two major tribes exchanged bloody massacres, leading to a death toll in the tens of thousands. With the ANC's massive victory this month, President Mbeki has reduced the power of the Zulus. Peter Goodspeed wrote in this Saturday's National Post about the consequences of this move. When Zulu chief, Buthelezi was fired as Home Affairs minister, the powerful Inkatha Party withdrew from the 10 year old national unity movement. The stage is now set for a continuation of tribal warfare.
4. AIDS is ravaging the black population. While the statistic of 1 in 5 adults infected is a bit suspect, the numbers are still extremely high. On top of the hundreds of thousands of former youths who are uneducated and unemployable, you will see vast numbers of orphaned childred who will swell their ranks. President Mbeki has gone on record as saying that the cause is not HIV infection from sex, but rather it is caused by poverty. With such enlightened leadership, the problem can only grow worse.
5. There is perhaps no more ominous sign of South Africa's descent than the suspicious support that Mbeki and the ANC has lent to Zimbabwe's Mugabe -- Mugabe, who has beggared his country. When Mbeki allows an ANC leader to stand before a cheering crowd and rant, "Kill the Boer! Kill the farmers!", then the handwriting on the wall is writ large. The whites who are left often would leave SA, but who would want to buy their homes and farms? [More to the point, Bud, would Canada allow white South Africans in?]
