BBC journalist calls SA “a frighteningly violent nation, warped by corruption and plagued by hunger”

BBC journalist Andrew Harding is leaving South Africa after 15 years as a correspondent in the country. It’s obvious in his farewell piece that he loves the country that has been his home for so many years… but that he is concerned for its future.

In an article headed “A fond farewell to an uneasy South Africa”, Harding calls Joburg (where he was based), a “beautiful, rough-and-tumble” city and describes South Africa and South Africans as having such energy and resilience, and “an enduring generosity of spirit”.

But, he adds, “this is still a frighteningly violent nation, now also warped by corruption, and plagued by hunger.”

Harding says in a country with such extremes, it’s hard to predict where South Africa is headed. He notes that SA’s unemployment is the highest in the world, at 42%; and that SA is officially “the most unequal country in the world”.

He says it’s becoming increasingly difficult to believe that “this charming, troubled, rainbow nation will simply continue to muddle, endlessly, through”, and that next year’s elections are significant.

Harding reveals that a wealthy businessman, with close ties to the ANC, admitted to him that “crooks have taken over” and that “things can’t go on like this”. The older man predicted “an uprising far greater” than the 2021 unrest.

In Harding’s opinion South Africa has a history of overcoming impossible odds, and is a “nation lulled by a sense of its own exceptionalism” which is part of the country’s “enduring charm”… BUT harding warns: “charm can be unhelpful. Nostalgia isn’t creating any jobs…” Time to vote!

Read the full article here:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-66568082