Things Fall Apart

The report on the situation in South Africa made by William Shoki in his op-ed in the New York Times paints a pretty discouraging picture of conditions there:

In fact, the events of the past weeks have demonstrated a bleak truth about the country. The deep rot of South Africa’s social and political order — rife with racial tension, communal mistrust, injustice and corruption — is now on full display. The rainbow nation, supposed beacon of reconciliation, is falling apart.

At the heart of the discord is the ruling African National Congress. In the 27 years since it steered South Africa to democracy, it has carried the hopes of millions of South Africans. Drawing on its reputation as the party of liberation, it has strong support and remains electorally unassailable. But it has now become squarely a source of division. A devastating battle for its soul is underway, with the country as the battlefield.

The riots there last week have been the worst in decades, basically since the end of apartheid. He concludes:

An uneasy calm has settled. How long it lasts is anyone’s guess. Yet the past few weeks have conclusively dispelled many illusions about the country, none more so than the myth of South African exceptionalism — of a South Africa more peaceful than its African neighbors, more developed and with a future that bends inevitably toward good and triumph. The reality, as we await the next outbreak of violence, is much uglier.

A few observations. The seriousness of instability in South Africa can hardly be overstated. There aren’t a lot of functioning economies in sub-Saharan Africa. The closest things may be Mauritius (barely African), Equatorial Guinea (oil rich), Botswana, and South Africa. Civil disorder in South Africa could be very bloody and might devolve into race war.

A South Africa going the way of Zimbabwe would be good for no one other than the ruling elite which is largely what the present disorder is about.

The weak opposition parties tend to be market-friendly. No wonder Mr. Shoki, no supporter of a market economy, is discouraged.

Finally, I recognize that we’re not talking about Nigeria but South Africa. Somehow the title of this post fits.

8 comments… add one
  • Grey Shambler Link

    And, if this is what Black rule looks like, can we rethink wanting that for our cities?

  • Andy Link

    Wow Grey, that’s a spectacularly racist argument, even for you. “Black” people in Africa are not the same thing as “Black” people in our cities. The notion that skin color is some kind of universal predictor for anything is just stupid.

    It’s as dumb as pointing to unrest in Ukraine and declaring that we ought to rethink wanting that kind of white rule in our cities.

  • bob sykes Link

    Actually, the black people in our cities are the same as the black people in Africa. They are mostly descended from East Africans, and are largely Bantu. The average American black has significant White admixture (about 20%), but the inner city blacks have very little. The average IQ of African Bantus is in the 70’s, and that is a good estimate for American inner city blacks. In fact, that is a good estimate for all of the black disaspora: Haiti, Jamaica, the West Indies, Cuba, Brazil…

    The admixed blacks have average IQ’s around 85, and the Du Bois’ “Talented Tenth” have IQ’s over 100. Barak Obama has been estimated at 115. Michelle is very average at best. She is also a flaming anti-white racist.

    The IQ’s of Bushmen is in the 60’s, and that of pygmies is in the 50’s.

    Biology is destiny. It sets the limits on what can be achieved. The RSA is merely regressing to the African mean.

    The fact that the US deliberately created and sustains the chaos in Ukraine does not represent anything other than our Masters’ evil. The fact that Democrats are evil does not mean all Whites are evil. Chicago and all its people would be better off if ruled by the likes of Donald Trump. Unfortunately, it is ruled by The Groot and her evil confederates.

  • steve Link

    Andy- There is no such thing as racism in the US anymore. Guess you missed the memo. Also, lets not forget that the same “researchers” who showed blacks are stupid showed the same thing for women.

    Steve

  • Grey Shambler Link

    The world came together using economic sanctions against apartheid South Africa to force them to give democratic rule and the reins of power to the Black majority in that country. The result has been anarchy because the new Black government does not respect the law.
    As regards our large Black majority cities Sen. Robert Kennedy, D. said
    in a retort to President Eisenhower, who had deplored the giving of moral sanction to rioters, Sen. Robert Kennedy said: “There is no point in telling Negroes to obey the law. To many Negroes the law is the enemy.”
    Was he also stupid and racist?

  • CuriousOnlooker Link

    Look to the whole picture.

    Its been 30 years and South Africa but they haven’t turned back on the idea of the rainbow nation.

    What happened in the last 2 weeks should be pinpointed at two things
    (1) One party rule is corrupting — 30 years of it, no matter where or who, will give one bad governance.
    (2) COVID is a real stressor. South Africa isn’t the only country dealing with unrest.

    Hopefully this is a wakeup call South Africa needs to deal with its challenges.

  • There is a post I may never get around to writing. It would address the likelihood of major social and political upheavals in the developing world. And beyond. I think a lot of countries are experiencing their own versions of Jan 6, some orders of magnitude worse than ours.

  • Grey Shambler Link

    Ahh,
    Rainbows.
    More likely a strongman will take over and begin another genocide.
    But only the bad people, the other tribes.

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