Megaphones and t-shirts

It turned out my Easter holiday was a week long. And wasn’t an Easter break. I was back at school last week but now have a long weekend.

During my week of holiday, I visited some of my Grade 7 pupils at home. A while ago, I committed to providing the school I taught at in the UK with stories of the home lives of some of the children at Ntabayengwe. So I set off with camera, mouth and ears, to snap some pictures and chat with them about their home lives. Predictably, it made me all the more amazed by their resilience and spirit. A few of the kids live in houses. Some of these have electricity. The fortunate have a jojo to catch rain water. However, most live in mud huts, walk a distance to fetch water and cook on an open fire each day. Days during the holiday are obviously very long, hard and boring. Not much sign of the new South Africa making a difference here.

Next month we have local elections. And suddenly the ANC is in town every night. With very loud megaphones to shout slogans. And some free t-shirts. Sadly this mega sophisticated style of campaigning seems to be more than sufficient to pick up votes. I am tempted to ask them whether they have any plans for fixing the main road (causing deaths each week), fixing the water supply so that local schools have taps with running water or improving the local hospital. But I think I already know the answer. We happen to know the ANC candidate. He ‘works’ in the hospital

I have just finished reading a book looking at the failure of African capitalism by an economist called Moletsi Mbeki (brother of the ex-President and one of his fiercest critics – especially for his treatment of Mugabe). It examines South Africa as a case study. It didn’t leave me feeling very optimistic. In summary, South Africa is still being run like a colony. By far the largest part of the economy is mining. From the huge profits made, relatively little is reinvested in infrastructure for the long term benefit of the country. For example, the public transport system has deteriorated in the last 25 years. Money that remains in South Africa (40% of all SA capital is kept outside the country) is instead pumped into the benefits system. There are now over 12 million on benefits (versus approximately 3 million in 1990). Many people in Ingwavuma receive these tiny benefits. And they have become completely dependent. Disincentivised from finding work many find a way of surviving on tiny amounts of rand a month.

Meanwhile, the soaring price of commodities has allowed the country to neglect the country’s manufacturing sector. South Africa once had a very promising textile industry. This has dwindled. Many skilled jobs have been lost. Thus, again, mining is undermining the long-term prospects of the country.

Sadly, corruption is also on the rise. South Africa has dropped about 20 places in the league table on honesty. Success in business and friendships at high or low level in government are very connected. Seemingly, bribery of the politicians was engaged in on a massive scale on the transfer of power in the 1990s as the wealthy white business elite sought to insulate themselves from the political earthquake. The culture of backhanders, cuts and deals with friends has grown fast.

Even at a low level, contracts from the different departments seemed to be tendered on friendships. A couple of weeks ago, I got a lift from a white guy from Jozini. He told me he had started up a business delivering food to local schools. He delivers food one day a week to three schools that are close together. Per school, per drop he makes 4400 rand (over £400). It means he and his business partner are making over 500,000 Rand a year profit from one day of work. He got the work because his business partner has friends in the department of education. Obviously these deals harm both private enterprise and the state services.

In theory, the impressive higher education facilities in South Africa should be making a big contribution to transforming the country. The country’s universities churn out 40,000 graduates each year. Positive discrimination means the black population makes up a large percentage of these. However, many graduates leave very quickly. And there is increasing evidence of the lowering of standards. Durban’s university has a particular reputation for not failing doctors with the right skin colour.

There are solutions offered in the book. But all are dependent upon South Africa developing a political system which requires their politicians to listen and act in the long-term interests of the people. The megaphone and t-shirt approach seems unlikely to achieve this.