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There is much to ‘celebrate’ in South Africa
Japan recovered from World War 2 by 1955 and Germany took 20 years. We're 30 years on from democracy and we can't compare.
South Africans take pictures at the statue of Nelson Mandela in Sandton City, Johannesburg, 10 May 2024. It was 30 years to the day that Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as South Africa’s first black president. South Africa will hold general elections on 29 May 2024, 30 years after the end of white minority rule and the end of the apartheid system. The ruling liberation party, the African National Congress (ANC), has seen its support decline in the face of widespread corruption at state level, a high crime rate, a 30 percent unemployment rate, and years of power outages. Picture: EPA-EFE/KIM LUDBROOK
A TV special looked at our 30 years of democracy and freedom. I saw an ANC election poster for the 1994 elections: Vote for jobs, peace and freedom!”
One out of three is not bad. We voted. Someone said that it is important to remember the good things. Good advice.
I must say that remembering the good things makes me feel better about betrayal, blundering, incompetence, indifference and corruption.
What do you mean: “What good things?” Haven’t you noticed that we have electricity?
Someone else said that we are no longer a country divided, at war with itself. As the music emanating from EFF, ANC, uMkhonto weSizwe party and others indicates.
That and the mutterings of so many peacemakers on social media. Anyone listening and reading can tell that we have conquered racial disharmony, resentment, victimhood and attendant ills that lesser countries struggle with.
We are no longer an international pariah, added someone else. Yes, but we’re trying hard.
According to Japan International Cooperation Agency, Japan recovered from World War II by 1955, as its per capita GDP returned to pre-war levels.
However, Japan’s economy experienced rapid and sustained growth from 1945 to 1991, a period known as the Japanese economic miracle.
By the 1960s, Japan had become the world’s third-largest economy, after the United States and the Soviet Union.
Germany took around 20 years to fully recover from World War II. The reconstruction process was long and difficult, with millions of people homeless and unemployed. In the early years, the focus was on basic necessities, such as food and shelter.
As the economy began to recover, more attention was paid to rebuilding the country’s industrial base.
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But you can’t compare us to the Germans and Japanese. They had advantages. Raw materials imported from us, foreign aid.
I suppose that they also had leadership that focused on reconstruction and growth. But they can’t sing, dance or shout slogans worth a damn. We have them there.
Besides, they were only bombed into ruin. We had apartheid.
We do outperform them in some areas. We have social grants, blue light brigades and well-paid officials. Take that, Germany and Japan!
So we’re lost at sea, but we did have a great start to the voyage – cheers, streamers, champagne for some.
And we did travel a long way. You can’t say we didn’t make progress. It’s a completely new place that we’re lost in. We have left the old behind.
So, there, fellow South Africans. Much to celebrate.
