Did the ANC take South Africa into the new world order as a responsible global citizen?

Question

This was the vision of Nelson Mandela in 1984, when he wrote "The Future of South Africa". Do you think South Africans have been accepted by the world as being responsible? Please be fair in your answer. Crime and AIDS have put us back hundreds of years, but the world still showed their respect for the country when they awarded the Football / Soccer World Cup to South Africa. Also, on a different note, our efforts to strengthen and consolidate democracy are recognized worldwide.

Answer 1

Yes. I however wouldn't like to credit ANC only with the positive strides the country has made in the world. All patriotic South Africans have done it, and I'm proud to be a citizen of this country.
Before I say any positives, I agree with you that AIDS and crimes are disturbing our progress. At least there's been convergence on the AIDS issue and one just hope that soon there would be a similar thing on the crime situation. The crime level is unacceptably high and the government needs to move faster to arrest the situation.

The positives. The world is highly sceptical of African countries. In part because of the beahviour of some of the African leaders, in part because some rich countries are interested in plundering natural resources found on the continent. Part of this scepticism is seen in the way the African countries' elections are monitored. But it took South Africa two elections to convince world political and econmic leaders that we are a real democracy. That is why we did not have international monitors from during the past elections. That was a big plus. It shows that we have arrived at the world stage as a force to reckon with.

At all important world talks that has to deal with ensuring a fair deal for developing countries, our President is one of the top speakers. He is doing that in the name of South Africans. That is a positive sign.

That many firsts for Africa events are held in South Africa humbles us - a young democracy that has long way to go.

But one of the reasons that we arre succeeding where other African countries failed has to do with being the last born democracy in Africa. We lived in many African countries during the exile years. We studied the good and the bad from their administration. We lived in many developed countries. There, too, we studied the good and bad practices from them.

During the CODESA and subsequent fora, we took the best practices from almost every country in the world. Almost every country accepted our multi-party delegations that visited them to sources knowledge. That helped us to avoid some of the mistakes that some are doing. We are greatly grateful that so many peoples of the world helped us shape a successful country that we are. And I think that has made it possible for the world to accept us as a "responsible global citizen".

Answer 2

I think you have illustrated/painted a good picture here and in some ways I agree with you. South Africans in general are feeling in their everyday life how many of us feel about the happenings on this very forum in the last week or so. I see a frustration and South Africans is like a pressure cooker that has build up steam and ready to explode. There are so many issues that cause this. We have to deal with increases in food prices, fuel prices, slow economic growth and the crime factor. We look at government and ask, WHY!? Silence and denial is all we get. I said many times that respect and tolerance goes a long way. I do not have to agree with you or any ANC supporter or participant here but my actions towards fellow contributors or fellow South African should be of such that I am respected for my personal believes. One thing that I have advocated previously and something which I still say is 'Attack the question and not the person'. You can have heated debates and express your feelings without being personal. This is my view which I am not afraid to state openly. I can only call for sanity and my appeal to everyone is to give each other the hand and say enough is enough. I mean, we can not continue like this!. It is a disgrace and as Christians, we should feel ashamed of ourselves. Can I appeal to everyone to bring this forum back to what it was. It is great debating but not this fighting and distrust amongst us.

Answer 3

when i read "nelson mandela" and "the future of south africa" in one sentence my mind tends to shut down lol. i cannot answer this question better than alf has. but i can add this:
pretend you're from an overseas first world country, and you read /hear this:
- mandela selling millions if not billions in arms to the middle east, after the states asking him not to support their enemies, and then responding by saying he doesn't need anyone telling him how to run his country
- tutu receiving a nobel peace prize and then saying he symathized with the murderers who committed the christmas day massacre when they machine gunned a church filled with men women and children in cape town.
- anc govt officials dripping in money while the country is forced towards poverty levels in all social areas.
- mbeki who can't make up his mind which side of the fence south africa is on with mugabe and his utter violation of zimbabwe during his - what - 27 yr rule now?
- the very divided decision of awarding mandela honourary canadian status - trust me - NOT everyone wanted this, but the majority won by a few votes on that issue - now regret it was done
the world isn't blind nor is it stupid - sooner or later the lack of "practice what you preach" makes ppl sit up and take notice, and its no use being mad at those who do, rather than sympathise with those who try to pretend these issues don't exist. if by "south africans who are responsible" meaning the govt, sadly they don't know the meaning of the word.

Answer 4

Yes, the ANC comrades diid that. In the past the leaders flew nowhere, today they fly to all countries and meet with dignatories. We are very responsible, the only non-responsible are those going against the president on crime. We will enjoy the world cup because it will bring us money so we can build houses for the victims. Yes, democracy is strong here.

Answer 5

I live in SA & no the country is going to fall apart , The crime is ridiculously high & then the president says we imagining it , crime is not bad in SA. Other Nations Indian, White & coloured are pushed back in order to give black people first preference. The country has serious litter issues , SA is no longer a clean place. Did i mention all the shacks coming up - its ridiculous how people just build a shack on unoccupied land that belongs to someone. SA is focusing too much on Black people & the past, they not moving away from that. The Goverment is a bunch of monkeys in a suite , all they doing is filling thier own pockets. Mandela had a dream unfortunately a good man like him is to old to be president now, it wouldnt be this way if he was still president.

Answer 6

Lets be honest Porgie, South Africa is not a global player ( if that is your inference) and as soon as Mandela was released and there was democratic election then SA rapidly went off the World's radar screen. Now that the honeymoon period has long since ended SA is coming back on to the radar screens but this time for HIV/AIDS, crime and corruption and its association with some of the worst human rights abusers on the Planet i.e. Zimbabwe,China,Russia,Iran etc. Here in the West it is very fashionable to be a politically correct liberal and so the cause of minorities has been championed at the expense of ignoring the wishes of the majority.At Government level the UK is not going to make public noises at any disquiet they may have with SA but at street level it is quite a different story. Remember there are an estimated 600,000 South Africans in the UK working and living amongst us and we are often exposed to their thoughts on South Africa. The tune they sing is invariably the same i.e I miss the weather but I have a job and security and I will not be going back to SA on a permanent basis unless they deal with -------- as mentioned above. Few believe SA is a democracy and it is likened more to the Chinese model of communism embracing the benefits of a Capitalist economic system.To all intents and purposes it is a one party State and recent events in Cape Town with Helen Zille demonstrate the ANC's definition of democracy. You need to see the World Cup in perspective. FIFA took a decision a few years back to stage the event on a different Continent every 4 years and Sepp Blatter committed to Africa.Now ask yourself who in Africa can come anywhere close to staging what is the biggest sporting event on the Planet. It was always going to be South Africa but the doubts and pressures are growing by the day e.g. today it is reported that both Nelspruit and Cape town are downgrading the quality of Stadia due to lack of funds and Eskom are expressing doubts about their ability to generate sufficient electricity to guarantee the requirements of the Tournament. Consider that in the light of the boasting of Mbeki and Jordaan in Germany last year that SA would stage the best ever World Cup. I am not convinced it will go ahead and if it does it will be one of the poorest supported Tournaments for a number of reasons.
I still think SA has great potential but not under the present cabal of criminals and communist who are running the Country and looting it at every opportunity. You need to get rid of the tired old guard who are completely incompetent and replace them with those who do not blame everything on " the legacy of apartheid" whilst openly practising the same discrimination they complain about. I wish you luck but if you throw in your lot with China then you will regret it for evermore.

Answer 7

Porgie - I like you, but I hate to break this to you - South Africa is not a global player, by any means, it's a beggar third world nation, disintegrating before our eyes.