News24 has an interesting piece on Zimbabwe by Mpumelelo Mkhabela, written from a South African perspective.
The coup d'état in Zimbabwe – call it bloodless, benevolent, calm or whatever – holds so many lessons for South Africa.
In fact, the whole continent of Africa has a lot to teach us, mostly on how not to govern.
The question is whether we are taking notes. And if we are, whether we are going to act on what we are learning.
This has been the embarrassing aspect of African government for much of my adult life - Africa has a lot to teach us, mostly on how not to govern. Yet in the UK there is a strange tendency to idolise Africa as the feckless political imbecile we should never criticise because... Because?
Whether Jacob Zuma likes it or not, there are no traces of Russia in our Constitution. We are closer to New York, London and Berlin than we are to Moscow. We have had what we might call the "cruel but distinct advantage" of seeing what worked better and what didn't in other jurisdictions.
The advantage was cruel because we learned from others while freedom fighters were being killed, tortured and jailed. But this is precisely one of the reasons we cannot afford to squander the lessons that Zimbabwe is offering to us now – on how not to run a country.
That seems to be Mr Mkhabela's main concern - the possibility that Jacob Zuma is not so much an aberration as an indication that South Africa could become infected with the Mugabe disease. I hope not, but when it comes to principled government Sub-Saharan Africa inspires as little confidence as it always has.
7 comments:
Africa has always been a great hole in the ground where outsiders turn up, pay the doorkeepers and help themselves to whatever. A place for exploiters to exploit. Quite why it got that way I'm not sure, but a lack of cohesion and plenty of selfishness looks to be a big part of the problem. Will it change, not holding my breath.
H/T to the Slog for this, just compare the state of the Capital then and now and the words of Mugabe about the status of the various ethnicity's, didn't last long on both counts did it.
Africa has been exploited, as much by it's own as anyone else, despot after despot, all hailed as the nations savior go down the same route of corruption build a paid for protective political machine round themselves and carry on as before.
The wealth inherent in these countries was discovered and exploited by Europeans but at the same time gave the same countries a framework to use going forward, sadly it has been discarded in favour of every man for himself, most with Swiss bank accounts. I spent a little time in Africa and more than a few of the small core of enlightened people spoke of the "better" days of colonial rule, at least then many of those countries could feed themselves, now the farms are small homesteads that produce little and are poorly managed and above it all is a frightening population explosion, basket case is not to strong a word.
Apologies forgot the link......
https://worldhistoryarchive.wordpress.com/2017/08/04/robert-mugabe-on-rhodesia-1960s/
From substantial experience, I’d say I know wonderful but tragic Africa outstandingly well at every level (admittedly not that recently, but precious little has changed; especially in contrast to the dizzying whirligig of confused European societies). The driver, eminently understandable in both evolutionary and simple personal survival terms, has always been tribalism. If you can’t be King of the Hill at least you want to be associated with him, otherwise you and yours are at least potentially, if not practically, dead. You are quite happy to hate and periodically kick the crap out of the vaguely different bunch over the hill mostly because it just comes naturally (...we’re all human after all), and actually you do want to nick their cattle and you just sort of know those degenerates have their eyes on yours. Hence you will ululate and fawn over your ‘big man’ even when you pretty much know he is a jerk.
Colonial lines on maps assuredly don’t help, but ostensibly ‘bien-pensant’ treatment of the inmates as pitiable idiots is worse; in fact, I am now of the seasoned view that way more insidious evil has forever been perpetuated by thoughtlessly misguided ‘well-wishers’ (they don’t really deserve the term) than the actual thugs themselves. It’s not so much the predictably awful ‘baddies’ you have to guard against as their remote, ignorant, devoid of conscience or immediate consequence, cheerleaders!
So, I’d currently score it: Up to but not exceeding 10 per cent, a very generous maximum and only because I’m feeling kind, 'white' guilt. Perhaps 40 percent, Africans just being Africans. At least 50 per cent, Africans being wrongly encouraged in their stupidity and victimhood. Which should not be condoned, but ridiculed.
All the best
Clacket, your summary of the carving up of Africa and the disregard for the tribal aspect was very well described by Thomas Pakenham in his book "The Scramble for Africa" where the problem of putting rival tribes side by side when a line was drawn on the map as an early indicator of trouble ahead.
But whatever the problems Europeans caused the bigger problem is having been given the means to bring the continent into the 20th century they have pillaged and squandered to a bigger degree than whitey ever did leaving the sorry mess that is Africa today.
As one surrounded by South Africans, this sort of message comes through most days. Stick to Blighty.
Roger - it may be changing, but too slowly to observe clearly and possibly too slowly for its own good.
Wiggia - yes the population explosion seems particularly threatening.
Clacket - Africans aren't the only ones being wrongly encouraged in their stupidity and victimhood. It seeems to be the basic global political technique for inducing a range of dependencies.
James - it's an interesting situation. Can the message be ignored forever?
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