Putting to one side the eulogising of the man, The New Yorker has a sober assessment of what sort of legacy Mandela has left behind.
"But his legacy is more mixed than some of the eulogies suggested. Almost twenty years after he became its President, South Africa is effectively a one-party state, ravaged by high levels of inequality, corruption, and crime. Inside the country, a lively debate is taking place about the path on which Mandela placed it, and whether other courses might have been available.
From the left, there are suggestions that Mandela, in reaching a political agreement with the apartheid regime, gave too much away to the white élites, leaving in place a grossly inequitable economic system that excluded the majority of the indigenous population from sharing in South Africa’s vast mineral wealth. From the disillusioned center, there are complaints that the great leader, once he became President, in 1994, showed little interest in administering the country, allowing his colleagues in the African National Congress to divide the spoils among themselves. And from the right, there are criticisms that Mandela and his successors never really understood economics, or the power of the market.
These criticisms shouldn’t be taken too far. By the standards of many post-colonial African countries, South Africa hasn’t fared too badly. In a recent report, the International Monetary Fund pointed out that G.D.P. growth has averaged 3.3 per cent a year since 1994, and inflation-adjusted per-capita income has risen by forty per cent. More than half of the population receives some form of social assistance, and the poverty rate has fallen by ten percentage points. But that same I.M.F. report reveals some of the problems plaguing the country."
****
"South Africa remains one of the most unequal places in the world. The richest ten per cent of its households pocket about sixty per cent of total income. As the chart shows, its Gini coefficient—a standard measure of economic inequality—is even higher than those in highly unequal South American countries such as Colombia and Brazil. South Africa also has a chronic unemployment problem. A quarter of the population is jobless. If you count discouraged workers, the tally rises to a third. And that figure doesn’t include millions of poor people, many in rural areas, who are outside the workforce.
Moreover, some reports question whether the poverty rate is falling, as the I.M.F. claims. A recent survey by Afrobarometer, an independent research project, found that between 2002 and 2012, the rate increased. The survey also found that about three in ten South Africans experienced water shortages at some point in the past couple of years, and about one in ten experienced them many times, or always."
"But his legacy is more mixed than some of the eulogies suggested. Almost twenty years after he became its President, South Africa is effectively a one-party state, ravaged by high levels of inequality, corruption, and crime. Inside the country, a lively debate is taking place about the path on which Mandela placed it, and whether other courses might have been available.
From the left, there are suggestions that Mandela, in reaching a political agreement with the apartheid regime, gave too much away to the white élites, leaving in place a grossly inequitable economic system that excluded the majority of the indigenous population from sharing in South Africa’s vast mineral wealth. From the disillusioned center, there are complaints that the great leader, once he became President, in 1994, showed little interest in administering the country, allowing his colleagues in the African National Congress to divide the spoils among themselves. And from the right, there are criticisms that Mandela and his successors never really understood economics, or the power of the market.
These criticisms shouldn’t be taken too far. By the standards of many post-colonial African countries, South Africa hasn’t fared too badly. In a recent report, the International Monetary Fund pointed out that G.D.P. growth has averaged 3.3 per cent a year since 1994, and inflation-adjusted per-capita income has risen by forty per cent. More than half of the population receives some form of social assistance, and the poverty rate has fallen by ten percentage points. But that same I.M.F. report reveals some of the problems plaguing the country."
****
"South Africa remains one of the most unequal places in the world. The richest ten per cent of its households pocket about sixty per cent of total income. As the chart shows, its Gini coefficient—a standard measure of economic inequality—is even higher than those in highly unequal South American countries such as Colombia and Brazil. South Africa also has a chronic unemployment problem. A quarter of the population is jobless. If you count discouraged workers, the tally rises to a third. And that figure doesn’t include millions of poor people, many in rural areas, who are outside the workforce.
Moreover, some reports question whether the poverty rate is falling, as the I.M.F. claims. A recent survey by Afrobarometer, an independent research project, found that between 2002 and 2012, the rate increased. The survey also found that about three in ten South Africans experienced water shortages at some point in the past couple of years, and about one in ten experienced them many times, or always."
Comments