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It's refreshing to see the development and activism cropping up in Africa after decades of mostly war, misery and poverty. I don't know if it's because of thei

• swagv 11y ago
  I think there's the confluence of a couple of factors here. One is that the ANC is no longer untouchable among a growingly frustrated electorate. Holding government responsible for more than what happened 21 years ago is becoming acceptable. For another, this is classic human and social psychology at work. People rise up and are the most dissatisfied not when things are at their worst, but when things show signs of progress and improvement. That's people get the sense of what's possible versus what is and get the most agitated. That's why civil rights activists in the U.S. blew up after the 1963 Civil Rights act -- after the govt actually did something -- as opposed to the decades languishing under Jim Crow laws. The SA students are now seeing that change is possible, and that's making them question a lot more.
• _djo_ 11y ago
  That's a condescending argument based on a lack of understanding of the huge diversity that exists between African countries in economic performance and activism. South Africa has not had 'decades of mostly war, misery and poverty', it's the most developed country in Africa, has consistently been one of the continent's wealthiest and aside from some brief political violence during the transition from Apartheid it has been entirely peaceful. This means your conclusion is flawed: South African industry and manufacturing has declined significantly over the past ten years as a result of flawed government economic and labour policies policies, not increased. The country's growth rate has stalled to just 1.5% of GDP and unemployment has increased to 25% under the standard definition and over 40% under the expanded definition. The mining sector, once a big part of the South African economy, is collapsing. At the same time, the ANC has more than doubled the number of civil servants and paid them inflated salaries, resulting in a state wage bill that takes up a whopping 45-50% of the entire government's budget. That's one reason why government subsidies for universities have been steadily decreasing over the past decade, forcing universities to increase fees to make up the difference. What's worse is that the universities are facing higher-than-inflation cost increases of their own, thanks to a severe shortage of academics, the decline of the Rand against the US Dollar and big increases in the price of electricity. There is a state entity that's supposed to aid poor students with student loans, called NSFAS, but it's extremely dysfunctional, riddled with corruption and effectively bankrupt so it only supports a relatively small number of students. There simply isn't enough available money remaining to increase those subsidies either, given that the Treasury's contingency reserve for the next three years was swallowed up by a R60 billion increase in civil servant salaries and VAT, personal and business taxes are all comparatively high already. Thus what we're seeing now is born of frustration on the part of students, who are facing 10-12% increases in student fees, insufficient bursaries or loans and an uncertain future where most will probably be unable to find employment even if they beat the odds and become one of the 30% or so of students who actually finish their degrees. The level of political organisation and dynamism shown by the students may indeed be a positive thing over the long term, it's too soon to tell just yet, but at the moment it shares more in common with the boiling over seen during the Arab Spring than anything else. As an aside, you mentioned mg.co.za. That's the site of the Mail & Guardian which is 30 year old weekly newspaper, not new online publication. Their website was created in 1995, but the paper itself dates from 1985 when staff of the closing Rand Daily Mail and Sunday Express (founded in 1902 and 1934 respectively) got together to form it. Sadly it, too, is going bankrupt, in part thanks to a government decision that all state job and tender advertising only be channeled through newspapers that are considered 'friendly'. In short, these protests are a symptom of South Africa's economic and political stagnation and mismanagement, especially over the past few years under the leadership of Jacob Zuma. It's not a new dynamism in a swiftly-growing country.
  • tim333 11y ago
    Sub Saharan Africa in general is doing well "the region is expected to pick up to an average of 4.4 percent and 4.8 percent [growth] in 2016 and 2017 respectively" South Africa is a bit of a special case having moved from the white European-style government running the place in a European style to the new one running it in an African style but I think they'll muddle through.
    • SideburnsOfDoom 11y ago
      South Africa is indeed a special case, and quite far from the stereotype of "mostly war". The late 1980s in SA before the transition from "the white European-style government" were ... troubled, but not actually in civil war. The last time there was an actual shooting war inside South Africa was the Anglo-Boer war, which ended in 1902.
• SideburnsOfDoom 11y ago
  > cropping up in Africa after decades of mostly war, misery and poverty. Because Africa is a country.