In
this episode of “Inside Story,” presenter Shuilie Ghosh speaks to Anthea
Jeffery, head of special research at the South African Institute of Race
Relations; Adam Habib, labor law expert and professor of politics at University
of Johannesburg; and Tony Dykes, director of Southern Africa, which is an
organization working for justice, democracy, and development. The episode focuses on the proposition that
South Africa is engaged in economic apartheid almost twenty years after racial
apartheid was formally ended. At the
time of the episode’s filming, protests of South Africa’s miners had begun to
intensify and South African forces had fired bullets against miners.
South
Africa’s total mine reserves are valued at $2.5 trillion and are some of the
most valuable in the world. The mining
sector accounts for 18% of GDP in South Africa.
However, many of the people who work in the mines live in poverty making
on average $500 per month. With
unemployment at 22% since 2000, these workers are increasingly providing for
additional dependents in their families who are unable to attain work. Many miners have demanded increased wages and
benefits, but miners have become divided.
The dominant National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is believed to be
closely tied to the state and to the mine owners, while the Association of
Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) has promised war over pay and living
conditions. The mine owners have
continued to become richer while the mine workers have not gained any
benefits. The current situation has been
labeled as economic apartheid.
Anthea
Jeffry argues that since the ANC came to power in South Africa in 1994,
distance between the ANC and the electorate has grown. She goes on to explain that there has been
increased unemployment, awareness of corruption, factionalism, and the sense
that the ANC has been callous towards its supporters. She concedes that the division between those
who have and have not always been large.
Jeffry has observed that each year there are more dependents because of
high unemployment and that the ANC has tried to focus on redistribution rather
than growth and that this has priced unskilled South Africans out of jobs. Jeffry goes on to argue that the most
critical need in South Africa is to amend labor laws and improve the schooling
system so that there is a sense that Africans have a part in the economic
system. Jeffry concludes that current
President Jacob Zume is not likely to be voted out of office because he is Zulu
and there is no clear contingent against him.
Adam
Habib disagrees with Anthea Jeffry and argues that the problem in South Africa
has been its focus on growth rather than redistribution. He argues that there is a need for an
industrialization plan that will increase unskilled jobs in the market. Habib goes on to posit that the miners find
that as much as the ANC has abandoned them so has the business community
abandoned them. This has meant that
“mine workers feel marginalized and they feel like they have been forgotten by
the power holders in society.” Habib
concludes that Jacob suma will likely be re-elected as president of South
Africa because he has a large home base that accounts for half of the state and
because there is no contender.
Tony
Dykes argues that there is a continuing divide based on race and gender and a
growing divide based on class. Dykes
sees the Black economic schemes as having been for the benefit of the elite
rather than for local citizens. He
thinks that the recent protests in South Africa serve as a wake-up call to
everyone to get their act together and play a role in the economic
transformation of South Africa. Dykes
agrees that Jacob Zuma will likely be re-elected by the ANC, but cautions that
the election should be about not only the leaders but about the ANC’s policies.
Reaction
It appears that the so-called “economic
apartheid” is not new to South Africa.
Economic inequalities have increased for years, but there were present
in 1994 when formal racial apartheid ended.
The recent protests by mine workers in South Africa have illuminated the
issue. It is important for South Africans
to become engaged in the issue and to institute policies that can help
everyone. This is especially important
as South Africa’s total share of GDP in Africa begins to decline.
South Africa’s Economic
Apartheid: Could growing frustration over the country’s economic disparities
have major repercussions for the ruling ANC?, Al Jazeera.com, Sept. 6, 2012,
11:45, http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2012/09/20129682047476842.html?utm_content=automate&utm_campaign=Trial6&utm_source=NewSocialFlow&utm_term=plustweets&utm_medium=MasterAccount
First, we visited Constitution Hill, where we toured an apartheid-era prison. Gandhi was actually imprisoned there for about 7 months total between 1908-1913 for organizing Indians in South Africa to resist laws requiring them to carry laborious identification passes everywhere. We also visited the South African Constitutional Court, known for upholding landmark human rights cases since it began in 1996, including abolishing the death penalty, legalizing same-sex marrriage nationally, voting rights for prisoners, and access to suitable housing and healthcare.
