It is 14 years since the first ANC government came to power, but for most people the situation is no better, and frequently worse, than it was under white minority rule.
It is 14 years since the first ANC government came to power, but for most people the situation is no better, and frequently worse, than it was under white minority rule.
The number of South Africans living below the poverty line more than doubled to 2,4million in the first 10 years of ANC rule.
Despite strong economic growth, poverty levels have not improved and the gap between rich and poor has increased. Unemployment remains high at around 26percent.
The economic structure which underpinned apartheid is essentially unchanged. Oppression based on race has morphed into oppression based on class. Leaders have changed from white to black, but the substance of change is an illusion.
No one expected things to change overnight, but we did expect the hope for change to burn brightly as people looked ahead for their children and grandchildren.
This is now a pale gleam, dimmed by the destructive power of free-market economics. People are worse off now than they were 20 years ago. The same policies have brought the same outcomes to South Africa.
South Africa was the democratic country with so much hope and I think for so many people it's been the deepest of disappointments.
Tshepo Diale, GaRankuwa
ANC did nothing for the majority
It is 14 years since the first ANC government came to power, but for most people the situation is no better, and frequently worse, than it was under white minority rule.
It is 14 years since the first ANC government came to power, but for most people the situation is no better, and frequently worse, than it was under white minority rule.
The number of South Africans living below the poverty line more than doubled to 2,4million in the first 10 years of ANC rule.
Despite strong economic growth, poverty levels have not improved and the gap between rich and poor has increased. Unemployment remains high at around 26percent.
The economic structure which underpinned apartheid is essentially unchanged. Oppression based on race has morphed into oppression based on class. Leaders have changed from white to black, but the substance of change is an illusion.
No one expected things to change overnight, but we did expect the hope for change to burn brightly as people looked ahead for their children and grandchildren.
This is now a pale gleam, dimmed by the destructive power of free-market economics. People are worse off now than they were 20 years ago. The same policies have brought the same outcomes to South Africa.
South Africa was the democratic country with so much hope and I think for so many people it's been the deepest of disappointments.
Tshepo Diale, GaRankuwa
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