South Africa Cancels 28th Anniversary of the Release of Nelson Mandela

Image courtesy of Steve Conover's Flickr account - South Africa: https://www.flickr.com/photos/steveconover/848926240/in/photolist-2i1Ycj-7Sk2Ad-UZv8MN-iaB72J-pkCozD-6hdL8D-pkCq4a-7ZYVud-8i3azu-8fkwro-b73DsT-ecJw5f-bXices-8d3nKB-pC7uxS-b73D3i-igNgfg-9AgxuT-77AVxD-njXHLK-8hZgK6-4FHzzu-B937Z-5LwNLB-82aTKC-bTaUut-6AwopQ-8d1m4h-hULKbq-5QdshD-ddJrGd-7MWFV7-bEg7x7-b8AA22-8i2QqL-b73CWM-8i2JE5-8hYNvv-8hYcHX-8i31xN-8i2z4N-8i2uhw-8hYnXn-89HPtS-8hYmW8-4FDs4x-bXic9S-89Fhn4-89FinH-89JxFd

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Back in early 1990, a lot of things were happening. China had seen the rise of peaceful protests, mostly by students. But it crushed the movement in a bloody crackdown that squelched the protests. Then, late in 1989, Eastern Europe had been liberated from decades of communist Soviet oppression. The Berlin Wall had come down, and a wave of mostly peaceful revolutions spread across Eastern Europe. The two Germanys were working towards reunification. The Soviet Union was working towards easing Cold War tensions, and working in cooperation with former rival nations, particularly the United States.           

It was in this backdrop that some great changes seemed to be taking place in South Africa, as well. Back then, of course, apartheid was still the law of the land, and the country remained as the only nation in the world still with officially racist laws on the books and being enforced. But change was coming, was in the air. FW DeKlerk had taken over for PW Botha as President, and early in 1990, he announced that apartheid had basically failed, and that the nation needed to begin the process of breaking the legal system of racial segregation up, ending the policies. To that end, he legalized opposition parties and movements that had long been outlawed, and he announced that political prisoners would be released.           

The most famous among these, of course, was Nelson Mandela. And just one week after Mike Tyson was knocked out by Buster Douglas in one of the most shocking upsets in sports history, Mandela was released and set free. It happened on this weekend, back in 1990. Mandela, the future President of the multiracial democracy that South Africa would soon become, was finally released, after roughly 27 years in prison.             South Africa was set to celebrate the 28th anniversary of this historical event this coming weekend, but it had to cancel. Instead, this weekend is seeing more rapid political developments, this time including the current President, Jacob Zuma. Many are hoping that he will be forced to resign this weekend, as he has been plagued with numerous serious allegations of corruption.           

On the weekend that Mandela was released, hope seemed to reign supreme. This was true in South Africa, where the long history of oppression by the white minority government there was final ending. But it was more generally true in much of the world, as well. The revolution in Eastern Europe had seemed to usher in a new era of hope, and was largely seen as a positive development. People seemed to be more hopeful that the shadow of nuclear war that had been looming throughout the Cold War years was diminishing with a seemingly brighter world.           

Things have grown darker, of course. The threat of nuclear war sometimes seems closer now than ever before. In many places, and between many nations, tensions seem to be rising. The threat of war everywhere seems to be growing. War broke out in the Ukraine, in Syria, and in Yemen, as well as in some African nations. Authoritarian leaders and threats of such leaders seem to be popping up everywhere. The British voted for Brexit, to divorce themselves from the European Union, last year, and a few months after that, Donald Trump, of all people, won the Presidential elections.             Everywhere, things appear to be growing dimmer.           

And so perhaps it is not surprising that South Africa cancelled what would and should have been a joyous anniversary. After all, it has been facing grave problems almost non-stop since apartheid finally was dismantled. Efforts to curb poverty and inequality – still largely, but no longer exclusively, based on race – continued to be a huge obstacle to national progress there. The AIDS epidemic reached staggering levels, and was a serious crisis that the country faced. Crime grew, and continues to grow. Recently, Cape Town was forced to face the impending crisis looming because of severe water shortages, making it the first major city in the world to have to face such a crisis. And, of course, the rampant corruption and subsequent political instability has become so commonplace, that headlines were made daily, particularly with Zuma on top.           

With such a crushing number of dilemmas seeming to close in on South Africa, and with the leadership of Mandela and the generation of freedom fighters now very much aging or, as in the case of Mandela himself, already dead, the country seems to barely be able to grapple with all of these new challenges, as it sometimes feels like it is the process of drowning in all of these problems.           

If Mandela and, to a lesser extent, DeKlerk, seemed to inspiring leaders and figures of a better, more hopeful future, than Zuma seems to be the face of a grim new reality where South Africa is dealing with all sorts of massive issues that it has not shown itself capable of dealing with adequately. Initially, many referred to the country as the “Rainbow Nation” after apartheid ended, and it was viewed as a hopeful example for much of the rest of the Africa continent to follow. Now, however, it appears that South Africa is constantly threatening to be another example of a basket case nation plagued with massive problems, beginning with staggering corruption at the very top, which it seems unable to get past. Time and time again, Zuma seems to get away with his corruption, even though it is becoming very costly to his ANC, which has ruled the nation ever since apartheid ended.

Now, don't get me wrong: there have been successes in South Africa in recent decades. The sheer fact that they managed to overcome apartheid, and seem to now have a healthier and more honest approach towards racism, generally speaking, than we Americans have, is significant. Also, South Africa very much joined the world community, and hosted some major sporting events - the Rugby World Cup in 1995 and the FIFA World Cup in 2010 are some excellent examples - are testament to that fact. And the country outlawed racism and created a universal, affordable healthcare system that probably is a step up from the system that existed before that, are all victories. Also, even though progress has been slow, millions of homes now had running water and electricity, which is something that many of those homes did not have during the apartheid era. Also, democracy has nevertheless survived to this point, more or less intact, since Mandela took office.

However, the news coming out of South Africa these days seems to be generally bad, more often than good. It seems sometimes like it is plagued by one crisis looming on the horizon after another. Huge problems with crime, with economic inequality, with rampant diseases, with violence towards women in particular, with a brutal system that does not welcome immigrants from neighboring countries, with water shortages, and with staggering political corruption, among other things, perhaps. 

South Africa did rise to the challenge to overcome the major problem - that of official racism and the tensions and fears that this system caused - that defined it in the eyes of the world, and enjoyed success in rebounding from this. It has a new number of problems that it must face now, but I think that it indeed would help if they managed to shed themselves of Zuma, who represents corruption, mediocrity, a false sense of entitlement, and arrogance in that country, much like Trump represents at least all of those things, and so many more negative things, here in the United States. Perhaps once again, South Africa can take the lead, and show Americans how it's done, as they seem to have on the once defining issue of race. 

It will be interesting to see what develops in South Africa over this coming weekend.