A Fractured Legacy: Consequences of Corruption in Post-Apartheid South Africa
A grandiose arrival hall adorned with the words ‘Welcome to Cape Town’ greets tourists as they land in the Mother City, South Africa’s legislative capital which birthed the establishment of a racially diverse parliament. Following the legal ending of ‘racial apartness’ i.e, apartheid in 1994, Cape Town became a dream travel destination, boasting an abundance of natural landscapes and diverse cultural experiences. It spoils locals and tourists alike with an air of loud luxury unrivalled in the African continent. At its peak, Cape Town was an epicentre of international trade, exporting goods such as minerals, vehicles and fruits but in the journey from the airport to the lavish beach-front villas lies a sea of slums. A crack in the facade of the Golden Child of Africa.
Nelson Mandela’s presidency marked the subversion of archaic white-supremacist ideas and the end of a generational struggle against racial segregation. The ascension to universal suffrage came after the African National Congress (ANC) led a series of protests against segregated seating, passbooks and the imposition of Afrikaans as a teaching medium. Defying unjust laws, the symbolic burning of passbooks used for government surveillance and international sanctions that crippled the economy, culminated in South Africa’s first vote for all. A feat of self-determination that proved to the post-Cold War Western world that democracy indeed, must prevail. However, in the following decades it became evident that the socialist-aligned ANC was skilled at protesting but required stricter regulations in its fund management processes. Africa’s poster-child tumbled down the ranks in a barrage of corruption scandals, investment mismanagement and a lack of future funding. A government overrun with internal politics and individualistic plots fails to serve its people, the victims in a perpetual grapple for power.
Cape Town, the legislative capital of South Africa from 1910 has been at the forefront of racial tensions and has played a significant role in the establishment, maintenance and abolishment of apartheid. Its citizens enjoy a prime location, natural beauty and the necessary traits to develop into a major trade epicentre but the city fails to cater to even the baseline needs of its people. In 2018, Cape Town became the first city in the world to have a scheduled Day Zero, the day on which clean drinking water would run out. In a starkly dystopian reality, the simple task of obtaining a glass of water would be impossible in an entire city. The Department of Water and Forestry’s 1997 white paper had warned of Cape Town’s susceptibility to water scarcity, yet there was no sufficient investment in the maintenance of pipes and water collection infrastructure.
Fortunately, Day Zero never came, courtesy to the citizens of Cape Town, who saved water to inconceivable levels through rationing for the most basic necessities. Cape Town averted a critical crisis not because of governments’ efficiency but because of fear mongering that forced the public into record-low public water consumption. To this day, 5 years later, pipe leakage is still overwhelmingly common, with the loss of 40% of purified water occurring during transportation. The stark contrast in the experience of those living in slums and in upper-class areas was made evident during the water crisis. Months of immense water restrictions disproportionately affected those living in townships who queued daily for a single bucket of water. This disparity in experience is evident of a greater system of inequality that plagues not only Cape Town but South Africa as a whole.
South Africa has the highest statistical wealth inequality in the world with the top 10% of the population owning more than 80% of private national wealth. This pales in comparison to the Czech Republic, which has notably low wealth inequality with the top 10% owning only 22% of private national wealth, a firm decrease from previous decades. The systemic removal of black people from educational institutions, job opportunities and residential areas had intergenerational impacts causing race to become a major driver of inequality. The government aimed to uplift entire communities but instead promoted select individuals, hushing the need for equality with a strict quota. The establishment of a new black billionaire class allowed a hand-picked few to integrate into upper-class society rather than mitigate segregation holistically. Systemic change begins at the provision of necessities and education, however the government's funds were spread too thin with an abundance of state-owned resources and enterprises (OEC, 2020).
With 2.2 million in the civil service and millions of additional workers in state-owned enterprises and funded third parties, corruption runs rampant (Carvalho, 2023). By diverting resources from essential goods and services, citizens suffer a significant deterioration in production quality. In 1998, Eskom led an energy industry with a 25% surplus that was exported to neighbouring countries Mozambique and Namibia, yet now cannot support the needs of its own people. Loadshedding, scheduled power cuts; stagnates the country as workers’ productivity crashes and business transactions come to a startling halt.
Small businesses take the brunt of loadshedding’s financial burden with 64% ceasing operations during black-outs and almost two-thirds cutting jobs (Maluleke, 2023). Further, high income and priority businesses such as hospitals, mines and shopping centres are given legal leniency against load-shedding which results in an even greater proportion of revenue loss being placed on low socio-economic areas. Loadshedding reduces businesses’ working capacity as the window for production, distribution and consumption are reduced, resulting in a waning income. Hence, businesses are forced to lay-off workers and down-scale operations, further increasing unemployment. This toxic correlation between crime, employment and resources slowly suffocates the economy, capping the average annual economic growth rate to less than 1% over the past decade. An economy stuck in limbo.
Fuelled by a power-less economy, South Africa’s official unemployment rate is the highest in the world at 33% and 60% for ages 16 – 24 (QLFS, 2023). In a purge-esque frenzy, many stunted by unemployment turn to crime as a guaranteed source of income. Increased gang tensions and racial polarisation has sky-rocketed the number of violent crimes to an average of 130 r*pes and 80 murders a day in late 2023; the third-highest crime rate in the world (Lambley, 2023). To combat this, the government and wealthier individuals hire private security detail to respond to emergencies, prevent crime and arrest offenders. The private sector employs more security services than the military and police force combined, which mitigates the pitfalls of the public defence force but undoubtedly gives preference to paying customers. Cape Town, a prime location for solar and wind-farming can mitigate the root of a plethora of issues through investing in renewable energy.
As natural sources of renewable energy are free and abundant, transitioning away from fossil fuels significantly reduces the capacity for corporations to monopolise resources and redirect funds. Hence, Eskom is heavily resisting the energy transition and continuously relying on coal, the least resource-efficient and sustainable method of producing electricity. Instead, wealthier households have begun to move away from the electricity grid, instead investing in solar panels and generators that reduce their reliance on a volatile grid. The public’s complete lack of trust in the government in managing water, electricity and safety speaks volumes on the consistent
Cape Town, once the golden child of Africa, praised for the usurpation of injustice now perpetuates it through the very systems it fought to dissolve. A fixed government running state-owned enterprises allows individuals of influence to concrete their power by forming and exploiting deep-rooted connections in industry. Consistent re-election of the ANC caused more efficient cheating of the system as deceit cascaded down from politicians to laymen. This year, South Africa’s landmark election on the 29th of May is expected to culminate in the topple of the ANC. The people will vote with memories of apartheid, inequality and opportunity in mind, deciding who will mould the future in the heart of South Africa, Cape Town.
REFERENCES
Carvalho, L. (2023). South Africa Unemployment Rate. [online] Tradingeconomics.com. Available at: https://tradingeconomics.com/south-africa/unemployment-rate. [Accessed: 11th April 2024]
Lambley, G. (2023). Crime stats LATEST: 75 people murdered per day in South Africa. [online] SAPeople - Worldwide South African News. Available at: https://www.sapeople.com/news/crime-stats-latest-75-people-murdered-per-day-in-south-africa/. [Accessed 17th April 2024].
Maluleke, R. (2023). Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) Q2:2023. [online] South Africa: Statistics South Africa. Available at: https://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0211/Presentation%20QLFS%20Q2%202023.pdf. [Accessed 30 Apr. 2024].
OEC (2020). South Africa (ZAF) exports, imports, and trade partners. [online] oec.world. Available at: https://oec.world/en/profile/country/zaf. [Accessed 30 Apr. 2024].