Has the post-Apartheid bubble burst?

I thought I'd share this article from AL Jazeera about an ugly event we had this week, figured that you guys would be interested.

I've pulled out a few quotes, but please hit the link for more thorough analysis.

What began as a typically grating labour dispute between unions and a mining magnate over poor wages and working conditions - the daily grist of fragile labour relations in South Africa - turned quickly into a week of violent clashes with police, talk of death threats and sporadic killings.

And then came the game changer.

Thirty-four striking miners were killed and scores more were wounded when police unleashed a spray of bullets at the assembled crowd outside the Lonmin-owned platinum mine at Marikana on Thursday, in what is being described as the most violent police operation since the end of apartheid.
Confusion over the finer details of the shooting still abounds, but just days later, scrutiny of the shooting itself pales against the more probing questions of the real character of South Africa that it has exposed.

In fact, scrutiny has now fallen on the incongruities of post-apartheid South Africa - perhaps more closely than ever before.

With the aid of the perhaps illusionary rhetoric of "the new South Africa" that is hard at work tackling an ever widening income inequality gap, a rampant rate of gender violence and a stubborn culture of corruption, the ANC-led government has been able to choreograph a compelling narrative of satisfactory growth, multicultural reconciliation, and political stability, at the tip of a continent that many perceive as locked into a spiral of poverty, exploitation and ruthless mismanagement.

In apparent reward for rescuing itself from Apartheid without too much fuss, South Africa punches far above its weight in world politics. The country's inclusion into the BRICS club of emerging economies, its membership to the G20, two stints as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council and, most recently, its successful election to the chair of the AU Commission, all go to illustrate South Africa's growing clout on the world stage.

....

Despite being classified as an upper-middle income country by the World Bank, unemployment in South Africa sits between 25 and 36 per cent. An estimated 50 per cent of the population lives under the poverty line. Recently, Unicef said that seven out of ten children live in homes that endure severe poverty. The group also discussed a set of circumstances that places the country in an unlikely position to be able to reunite its diverging societies of rich and poor.

Then in June, the World Bank applied its newly developed Human Opportunity Index to South Africa and the results were far from flattering.

While the report lauded the impressive gains made in access to primary education, electricity and telecommunications, it noted as well that the spatial effects of Apartheid still determined how well these services were actually distributed.

....

The disparate world of rampant inequality, where the black majority continues to live in an apparent disconnect from the vision of the new dispensation, was echoed widely in angry editorials of the The Sowetan and Amandla magazine, the morning after the shooting.

The Sowetan described South Africa as "an abnormal country … where the value of human life, especially that of the African, continues to be meaningless", while Amandla said the tragedy "sums up the shallowness of transformation".

It is the narrative of transformation, South Africa's ability to emerge from an ugly past through negotiations and reconciliation that has been abruptly torn asunder by events in Marikana this week.

....

While the world hails South Africa as the definitive gateway to Africa, encouraging the country to assert its clout more prominently across the continent, a growing discontent lurking beneath the surface has been brushed aside. Low-income suburbs are crippled by an overwrought electrical grid; dusty townships remain lawless and insecure, and up to 12 million South Africans live in slums, where they face poor sanitation, barriers to water access and attacks on human dignity.

"Many communities protesting against poor service delivery suffer police repression and excessive state violence on a daily basis," Mngxitama said.
Police brutality

South African police say they were acting in self-defence at Marikana on Thursday, but the scale of the damage, recorded in part by television cameras, has once more set off alarm bells concerning the capacity of the police and a perception among some regarding their inclination towards violence. In 2011, police behaviour was highlighted when community leader Andries Tatane died after a beating, reportedly at the hands of police, during a protest in Ficksburg in the Free State.

....

Sipho Hlongwane, political correspondent at Daily Maverick, said that the most shocking aspect of the Marikana incident was the reportedly slow response of the police and authorities.

"This incident did not come out of the blue, like perhaps the [Andries] Tatane incident … it was brewing for a week. Ten people had already died and still the police and authorities did nothing," he said.

"The ANC will stop at nothing to defend the narrow interests of the political elite."

Hlongwane's observation is particularly significant when viewed in the context of police operations at community protests in recent years

To answer the question in the thread title, 'Yes, the pigs have the farm now and people are starting to realise.' I'm still personally processing the events and what they probably mean in the longer run. While my first thought is that shooting at police will only go in one direction the fact that this was a slow burn that authorities allowed to get out of control makes it far more complicated, and is all indicative of deep fractures in our society.

It's all either part of the growth process of a country that has undergone what is actually in many ways a remarkably peaceful transition, or symptoms of a complete, slow breakdown and I suspect only history will have the answer.

If anyone has opinions to share or questions to ask please do so, it will help me form my own thoughts.

The strike was the kind of thing i'd hear about on BBC Worldwide on the drive home and say "I should do a little more learning about this" and then forget to do so. I need to do a little reading on this.

Hmm.... I suppose the simple fact that you're here, posting on GWJ, means you're one of the people for which the new economic regime is working. It sounds like there needs to be a great deal more infrastructure investment into the areas that have been poor for so long.

But, that said, there may be reasons why some areas are staying poor that's not related to racism... there may just not be anything there worth building an economy around, kind of like what's happened with Detroit in the US.

And, of course, you're in the middle of a world that's going off the economic rails, one that's choking on debt and barely holding things together. So of course things are going wacky in SA, because they're going crazy anywhere that's not closely connected to the banking system.

Well, I wouldn't say I'm benefiting from the economic regime. I'm just not suffering too badly. Things are a bigger struggle here for pretty much everyone than they were 10 years ago, but as you say, it's hard to tell what's due to local problems and what has a global root cause. For a while we did seem shielded from the banking crisis, but it didn't last.

The people who are really suffering are the same people who suffered under Apartheid, miners and the poor living in squatter camps. Only now they have been lied to for 16 years about getting basic services so they are getting antsy. Meanwhile certain 'empowered' black elites, mostly those with political connections are the new conspicuously consumptive overclass.

Our president's own nephew was donating millions to the ANC while not paying his mineworkers at one of his platinum mines.

It's so Orwellian if you read it in a novel you would think it's ridiculous.

I don't have anything to add, as I'm not really informed on South-African politics. But that doesn't mean I'm not eagerly clicking refresh to find out more about your country If you find the time and korosje (awesome Flemish word for 'lust for work') to post more, please keep 'em coming!

Would a good summary of the SA situation be that it's the same as during Apartheid, except for a tiny black elite (mainly the ANC) joining the white establishment?

I'll try post more about events. Sometimes not much happens and sometimes it's tough to keep up.

dejanzie wrote:

Would a good summary of the SA situation be that it's the same as during Apartheid, except for a tiny black elite (mainly the ANC) joining the white establishment?

I'd say that's pretty accurate. Apartheid was all about keeping the country's minimal resources for a specific group, who happened to all be paler than the majority. The post-Apartheid system is similar, but the in-group looks the same as the majority.

One problem we have is that most people consider the ANC above reproach because they gave everyone their freedom, and so any criticism of the system is labeled reactionary,' 'counter-revolutionary' or racist. Hell sometimes those accusations are true, which makes the times they're false so pernicious.

I guess the question I'd like to know is whether the infrastructure will get built out for a critical mass of people before the critical mass of people get fed up. And I'd also like to know what the government's response will be when the people do get fed up, repression like the mine incident, Zimbabwean style handouts, or something else. If enough people's basic needs get taken care of, I'd think the desire to radicalize would go way down.

Apropos of nothing, I lived in Durban for the year in 1987. Pretty awesome place to live.

Alien13z wrote:

I guess the question I'd like to know is whether the infrastructure will get built out for a critical mass of people before the critical mass of people get fed up.

That's the big question. Unfortunately I'm pretty certain the answer is a big no. The problem is that more people are becoming urbanised and it's stretching the resources of the municipalities and the parastatals that provide infrastructure, water and power especially.

One of Apartheid's main aims was to prevent urbanisation of the black population, and it was pretty effective, unfortunately it achieved that effectiveness by dehumanising 90% of the population. But keeping people rural meant that they could at least feed themselves while the selected elites could watch their TVs and not worry about power failures interrupting Dallas.

Now we have exploding urban populations crammed into informal settlements, think District 9 (seriously), and it's a powder keg.

And I'd also like to know what the government's response will be when the people do get fed up, repression like the mine incident, Zimbabwean style handouts, or something else. If enough people's basic needs get taken care of, I'd think the desire to radicalize would go way down.

And that's the other big question. I think the mine incident is only the latest in a series that suggests brutal oppression will be the answer. The killing of Andries Tatane at a service delivery protest is another mentioned in the Al Jazeera article I linked. Maybe the outcry over the Lonmin incident will change this though. We no longer have a semi-militaristic police commissioner strutting around yelling 'shoot to kill' in every speech to the police.

Apropos of nothing, I lived in Durban for the year in 1987. Pretty awesome place to live.

I still love it, although the urbanisation means it's gotten pretty ghetto in some areas.

Incidentally, anyone who wants to keep half an eye on events here should check out the Mail and Guardian and Daily Maverick websites occasionally. Both are great independent news sources, the M&G particularly was a bane of the Apartheid regime and it's a bane of the new one.

What does the public opinion think of the mine strike shootings? Especially the middle class?

dejanzie wrote:

What does the public opinion think of the mine strike shootings? Especially the middle class?

If I'm reading the situation right, this question isn't really relevant. There may or may not be a middle class in South Africa, but if it's anything like what I imagine, that social class is small and relatively powerless. The poor majority have power by dint of being the working underclass, and by sheer weight of population; and the rich minority have power by dint of being better educated, and having control of the bulk of wealth and political influence. At least, that is how I'm reading the situation.

"Public opinion" in this case is a non-starter. Of course, the poor will have their opinions about what's going on, and the rich will have theirs. Those opinions will characterize the bulk of public opinion, and they will each be partial to their own interests.

Even autocracies like to appease the population, LarryC.

Anyway, I would like to know regardless of how much it matters to the corrupt elite

LarryC wrote:
dejanzie wrote:

What does the public opinion think of the mine strike shootings? Especially the middle class?

If I'm reading the situation right, this question isn't really relevant. There may or may not be a middle class in South Africa, but if it's anything like what I imagine, that social class is small and relatively powerless. The poor majority have power by dint of being the working underclass, and by sheer weight of population; and the rich minority have power by dint of being better educated, and having control of the bulk of wealth and political influence. At least, that is how I'm reading the situation.

"Public opinion" in this case is a non-starter. Of course, the poor will have their opinions about what's going on, and the rich will have theirs. Those opinions will characterize the bulk of public opinion, and they will each be partial to their own interests.

Well, to be honest it's tough to say what middle class actually is. With such wide disparities of wealth and power what could be considered middle class in Europe or America would be considered part of the elite here.

And remember we have a very racially fixated society. The White middle class is dwindling, people are leaving the country if the option is available, or they are moving into the working class as the nice cushy jobs become affirmative action jobs. The Black middle class is growing; mostly people who are either politically connected, or have the benefit of having received a decent education during Apartheid, despite the government's best attempts. They couldn't prevent Catholic schools from educating black children.

As to the original question. Opinion on the mine shootings is pretty split. On one side you have people thinking that the miners basically 'had it coming' by striking illegally and shooting at the police and the other thinks that the police response was totally out of proportion and that less-lethal methods could have been used, and that the situation could have been headed off earlier.

WTF.

The 270 miners arrested earlier this month have been charged with murder. Who did they murder, you might ask? The 34 people the police killed, of course.

Yeah, I heard that on the news today. That's freaking insane. MrDeVil, I dunno how your government works, but that would be worthy of a call to your representative, if you have one.

Oh my god. The NPA was denying the rumour this afternoon, meanwhile they were doing it.

Can't freaking believe it.

*edit*

Theoretically it shouldn't hold up in court.

Constitutional law expert Pierre de Vos said on Thursday, that the decision to charge the miners with murders was a "bizarre and shocking and represent[ing] a flagrant abuse of the criminal justice system in an effort to protect the police and/or politicians like Jacob Zuma and [Police Minister] Nathi Mthethwa".

De Vos cited Section 18 of the Riotous Assemblies Act of 1956 which states "any other person to aid in the commissioning of a crime or incites or instigates any other person to commit, a crime, is guilty of a crime – as if he or she committed the actual crime him or herself".

De Vos said "The NPA seems wrongly to conflate [either deliberately or out of shocking ignorance] allegations that the miners provoked the police, on the one hand, with allegations that the miners themselves incited the police to shoot at them because they had the intention to commit suicide by getting the Police to kill them.

Even if it was true that the miners provoked the police, this could never, ever, make them liable for the killing of their comrades. At most, provocation could be a factor taken into account in judging whether the police officers involved in the massacre should be found guilty of murder or not."

But the fact that the court didn't dismiss the charges out of hand is surprising.

*another edit*

The Justice Minister is asking for an explanation regarding the charges. They'll probably be dropped over the weekend or early in the week.

Any more developments in this case, MrDeVil? Were the charges dropped?

Rallick wrote:

Any more developments in this case, MrDeVil? Were the charges dropped?

The charges were dropped, but the prosecution reserved the right to re-charge the miners after the event was more fully investigated.

OG_slinger wrote:
Rallick wrote:

Any more developments in this case, MrDeVil? Were the charges dropped?

The charges were dropped, but the prosecution reserved the right to re-charge the miners after the event was more fully investigated.

In other words: when the media's goldfish-like attention span has been exceeded.

Rallick wrote:

Any more developments in this case, MrDeVil? Were the charges dropped?

Oh yeah, meant to report back. As I expected the charges were dropped over the weekend. As OG says the prosecution have said they have the option to recharge, it won't happen though. The law they used initially is an old Apartheid law and is unconstitutional. Murder requires intent and premeditation, none of which can be shown here.

The courts here are, with a few specific exceptions, fiercely independent and will also be very quick to throw out a charge that won't pass constitutional muster.

Well, that's good to hear.

Yeah, that's a relief. Now you need to get rid of that prosecutor.

Malor wrote:

Yeah, that's a relief. Now you need to get rid of that prosecutor.

I've been mulling over exactly how to respond to this and I think I now have an idea.

As I said the courts are pretty much independent and free of interference. The National Directorate of Public Prosecutions however is not. The Director is a purely political appointee who is most well known for attempting (unsuccessfully) to pressure judges into dropping corruption cases against our now President.

I have no doubt that the prosecutor in question was following orders, probably ultimately from the same Minister of Justice who publicly called for the charges to be dropped after the outcry.

So no, the prosecutor in question isn't going to be fired. At worst he or she will be 'redeployed' to another area of government.

I thought I'd share this story here. It's just a little cultural snapshot about the lives of migrant workers and the consequences for the families of those killed.

This has been sitting in my RSS feed for a while and I just got to it now, it's pretty shocking.

“He (Mathunjwa) did get (meet with) the management, but he didn’t come with anything to us. He said the police said we must go. He asked us we must come out of the mountain (leave the gathering place). He did ask us to come out. And then we refuse,” the striking miner says.

He told us the police they are going to kill us if we don’t come out. He said that the police told him that they are going to kill us at once.” But despite the threat, the miners stayed exactly where they were on that Thursday, resolute in their intention to wait for management to negotiate increased wages.

Those are both extremely painful to read.

What's being done about this?

Well, the strike is over as of today and the miners are going back to work.

In terms of aftermath after the killings, so far a lot of talking and navel gazing. Whether anything actually happens only time will tell.

I'd guess not much. Elections for the ANC presidency are coming, so that's going to distract everyone.

So the police are just going to get away with it?

I hope not, but I haven't heard about any actions being taken. They're politically manipulated anyway, it's their puppet-masters who need to go down, and that's not going to happen.

So, there is a commission of inquiry, for what that's worth. Let's see what pans out, I'll keep people posted.

Yeah, but the BBC coverage said that the lawyer for the bereaved relatives wanted a two-week recess, so that he could travel to all of them, but the court refused. That doesn't bode especially well.

Malor wrote:

Yeah, but the BBC coverage said that the lawyer for the bereaved relatives wanted a two-week recess, so that he could travel to all of them, but the court refused. That doesn't bode especially well.

Could you link that? I can't find the story with a bit of Googling. I seem to remember a headline, but don't think I read the story, seemed a bit of an ambulance chaser thing to me, but I'm open to correction.

South Africa shootings: Marikana mine inquiry begins

A short time into the proceedings, a lawyer representing families of dead miners asked for a postponement of at least 14 days. Dumisa Ntsebeza said this would give him time to consult his clients, who are scattered across a vast rural area.

He was supported by the lawyer representing most of the 270 miners arrested following the shootings, says the BBC's Milton Nkosi at the court. The counsel for the police made no objection.

But the commission rejected the request for a two-week adjournment, saying its work needed to be completed with speed.

Favoring speed over justice is rarely (never?) a good idea.