South Africa’s unrest and the ANC’s many failings

For years, the governing party has used immigrants as scapegoats instead of addressing socioeconomic woes.

At the 47th G7 summit held in the United Kingdom in June, South Africa was the only African country to be invited. In an interview held on the sidelines, President Cyril Ramaphosa stated that he believed ordinary South Africans had confidence in his government and things were actually looking “pretty good” for South Africa. One month later, the country descended into mass unrest, looting, arson and violence that destroyed thousands of businesses and led to 212 deaths. It is not the first time South Africa experiences such upheaval and one has to wonder why its head of state got invited to make a “token” appearance at a gathering of the world’s top wealthiest nations, when clearly things are not “pretty good”. Some may think it is because South Africa is Africa’s most industrialised nation and leading democracy. Its development as a liberal democracy, after decades of white supremacist rule, has impressed many in the West. Nelson Mandela’s legacy of pushing for national unity after spending 27 years in jail is well remembered, and so is the adoption of a constitution that enshrined progressive political, economic and sexual rights, which strengthened South Africa’s democratic credentials after decades of brutal apartheid.