Democratic Prospects in South Africa

            The Economist published a two-part article on October 20^th titled Sad South Africa: Cry, the Beloved Country, outlining South Africa’s slide from democratic and economic beacon to unequal one party regime. Among other issues at the heart of this deconstruction, the article points to rising inequality and economic crises, combined with lack of political opposition (Economist 2012). However, some may argue that this does not paint the proper picture of South Africa’s current political atmosphere. In his article titled South Africa: cry the beloved cliché, Reg Rumney argues that The Economist article is out of touch with real South African politics (Rumney 2012). Both articles have intriguing points that can point to what may spell out the South African future.

            As The Economist notes, in 2000 the South African economy accounted for 40% of the entire GDP of Sub-Saharan Africa. This economic growth was stimulated by the new constitution and democratic regime, achieved without the expected amounts of bloodshed and violence. Furthermore, this articles establishes that this growth was recognized at a time in which their very own paper had labeled Africa as a whole as “the hopeless continent” (The Economist 2012). Yet recently, the magazine has rescinded this claim and has in turn labeled a marked improvement in African growth.

            It is strange therefore to find that South Africa accounts for little to none of this growth. As the article states, “Africa to the north of the Limpopo river has been growing at an annual average clip of 6%, whereas South Africa’s rate for the past few years has slowed to barely 2%” (The Economist 2012). In the second part of the article, the magazine highlights the cause of this disparity in both economic and political terms. As the authors note, “Under apartheid, a role in the ANC was about sacrifice and risk. Today it is a ticket for the gravy train” (The Economist 2012). Because of the large inequality gap, it is in the politician’s best interest to be corruptible. In fact, many politicians use their seat as a way out of poverty (The Economist 2012). This trend certainly spells doom for a democratic system, in that it places power in the hands of those with revenue rather than those with the vote.

            However, Reg Rumney starkly contrasts this claim. He states that The Economist is guilty of building their argument, and then finding things in South Africa that they can point to as evidence (A seemingly backwards approach) (Rumney 2012). As Rumney states, “It is the central tenet of the leader article that is most specious: South Africa is fated to fall behind the fast-growing African countries to its north because it is becoming a one-party state” (Rumney 2012). In the eyes of this argument, the ANC is simply in power because they are efficient at meeting the desires of the people who vote them in.

            Further, Rumney goes on to lay out this issues with the claim that South Africa will fall behind other African nations in terms of economic growth. He claims, “It seems to have escaped the magazine that the rest of Africa is our backyard. Our home-grown multinational MTN has its biggest investment in Nigeria” (Rumney 2012). In this sense, the argument can be made that as the rest of Africa grows, South Africa will grow with it yet it still seems that The Economist has offered proper evidence to refute this claim.

            Overall, it is clear that an increase in economic malaise within South Africa will lead to more political corruption and turmoil. Based on the information provided both in class, and the readings it seems as though The Economist article may be more accurate than the Rumney article. Without both economic and political changes, South Africa’s democracy may be down a path of ultimate peril. The Economist states, “Some simple changes could help spur change and integrity. One of the parliament’s worst features is its party-list method of choosing members.” Changing to a constituent based system would help limit corruption. One area where Rumney most likely was correct however, was the interconnected growth of African economies. Certainly, a trend in economic growth in nations like Nigeria and Angola will help spur economic development in South Africa, which will ideally lead to less political tension.

Rumney, Reg. "South Africa: cry the beloved cliche."Guardian. 22 2012: n. page. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/22/south-africa-economist-beloved?newsfeed=true>.

"Sad South Africa: Cry, the beloved country."Economist. 20 2012: n. page. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. <http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21564846-south-africa-sliding-downhill-while-much-rest-continent-clawing-its-way-up>.

"South Africa: Over the rainbow." Economist. 20 2012: n. page. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. <http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21564829-it-has-made-progress-becoming-full-democracy-1994-failure-leadership-means>.