Finally Today - Do you think democracy is working in South Africa?

Do you think democracy is working in South Africa?

The only press I hear about Africa is bad press and I think that is because the West is skewed with their views of South Africa. We only hear about crime and AIDS, but never if the fledgling democracy is working. Also: Do you think that perhaps we can compare this new democracy to the beginning of American democracy? After all, democracy came about to escape a cruel monarchy...and we also had violence toward the beginning of our democracy (wars, slavery). South African opinion greatly appreciated. I'd love to hear first hand.

Public Comments

well they've became self-sufficient with it...
Of course it's not. It's the last scene of Animal Farm. The former oppressed people are now the oppressors, and they are worse oppressors than the original oppressors ever were.
Democracy does not have a universal definition but in terms of the two most common principles of democracy,(1) equal opportunity to choose government (all S Africans over 18 can vote) and (2 )the right to enjoy universally accepted freedoms and liberties, then one can say democracy in SA is working. Having said this, and in my view, there may be just one exception to these universally accepted principles of a democracy, Affirmative Action in the workplace in South Africa has been legalized and enforced through legislation. In a nutshell, previously disadvantaged citizens are afforded preference in securing employment over previously advantaged citizens...this legislation affects mainly white male citizens. Sure, Apartheid was wrong, and depending on which side of the fence you sit you will have differing views on Affirmative Action...my view is that 2 wrongs do not make a right and that white males are discriminated against with this legislation. South Africa, within its democracy, has had challenges and poverty, HIV/Aids, corruption in government and relatively high crime are the greatest ones facing our Nation.....my view is that not enough has been done in these areas by the ruling ANC government and the major reason is because they have a monopolistic government and do not have a strong opposition like many other sound democracies around the world. South Africans will shortly be able to change that when they go to the polls ....there has also been a "breakaway" group from the ANC which have formed a new political party, Cope...in addition, the ANC delegate for President of the country, Jacob Zuma is a thug and more and more South Africans are realizing this...all this is healthy for politics in our country and hopefully a strong opposition emerges which will afford all South Africans overall better governance. Our democracy came into being without violence after Nelson Mandela was released from prison, sure there was violence before that from both sides, the then government and the armed wing of the ANC...but the world was amazed that the transition was peaceful and that civil war did not break out....SA also had the benefit to learn from democracies the world over that were already working....all told a few similarities with the democratic era of the USA but definitely not identical is my view. SA is a great country and we have hope that things will continue to get better, we are a fledging democracy but we have a long way to go before we can say that we have arrived.
Yes, on the whole it is working well. There are a few hiccups here and there but nobody could seriously say that any of South Africa's elections since 1994 have been not free and fair. As far as the stuff that happens between elections is concerned, there are some problems but our courts have upheld the constitution very strictly and slapped down undemocratic behavior when they have ruled on such matters. A recent development that is very good for democracy is the emergence of the centre-left "Congress of the People" (COPE) party. They are a breakaway from the ruling African National Congress (ANC) which has been shifting leftwards under the influence of their alliance partners the Communists and the trade union group "Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and other "hard left" factions. The split was precipitated by the emergence of a "personality cult" around the ANC leader Jacob Zuma, who is also the party's presidential candidate for the upcoming general election in spite of being under indictment on numerous charges of bribery and corruption. The split will hopefully end the parliamentary dominance (over 2/3rds of the seats) the ANC has had since 1994. The ANC could also lose control of one or two provincial governments to coalitions of opposition parties. Overwhelming dominance by a ruling party is widely accepted by scholars of government and politics to be a threat to democracy.
Yes, it's working. We have a multiparty democracy. There's a separation of powers; judiciary is independent. there's freedom of press.
Democracy??! In SA? Wherewhere??! ;) Sure we have the Consitituition ,the Bill of Rights and elections coming out soon, but i really feel that is the be-all and end-all of democracy in SA. I believe these are things threatening democracy in SA: 1. The Tripartite Alliance: An alliance created by the govening party, the ANC, the trade unions COSATU and the Communist Party, SACP. COSATU and SACP are pushing the ANC to put in more place far more leftist legislation. To its credit, the ANC is standing its midleft ground (but for how long?). 2. Corruption. There are many MPs who have been fingered for various fraudulent activities, and these MPs are doing whatever they can to dodge the legal system, from disbanding the most efficent crime busting team in SA(The ppl deciding the fate of the DSO or the Scorpions are being investigated by the Scorpions themselves! How undemocratic can you get?!) to legislation that any normal democracy would never even contemplate signing into law. See points 3 & 4 below. Some topics to research on: The Arms Deal Travelgate PetroSA Scandal Awarding of Tenders (nepotism) Schabir Shaik The Scorpions Vusi Pikoli Also, corruption keeps the impoverished poor and unable to uplift themselves; i now realise the importance of service delivery within a democracy, through basic services such as water electricity and transport, people can start improving their lives, but corruption keeps poor ppl in townships! 3. Attacks agaisnt the Judiciary. There have been/are bills in front of parliament that severly undermine the independence of the Judiciary. I cant quite remember the details but it was pretty shocking stuff. I think it was making the Judiciary accountable to govt (ANC) and to weed out judges that are seen as unsympathetic to the ANC, as well as sending would be judges to some sort of course (read i-n-d-o-c-t-r-i-n-a-t-i-o-n). 4. Tightening of media laws. Very recently, a bill was placed before parliament that would have far reaching implications for any printed or broadcast media. The original intention of the bill was to control pornography but we all know where best intentions go... Also there have been scandals within the SABC recently that shows that something is not right within the national broadcaster. Check the link to Snuki Zikalala. Also the ANC wants to have more say in the appointment of the SABC board. (What does this have to do with point 2? Jacob Zuma and his supporters all say Zuma was put on trial by the media. If the media is strongly controlled no-one will know what our politicians are up to.) 5. The Rise of the Personality Cult. The ANC is losing its focus as an organisation and now appears to be Zuma and his yesmen. Nowadays you cant talk about ANC and not Zuma and vice versa. Mandela warned his party of this when Mbeki was elected party leader in '99, now 10 years later it seems his warning has fallen on deaf ears. Other 'personality cults' are Stalin, Hitler, Castro... Nice precedent. 6. Political Intolerance. Not all people were happy with Zuma becoming ANC leader. It might of also been the last straw that broke the camels back. Cracks were showing in the ANC's ranks, and this finally culminated in a break away party, the Congress of the People, COPE, to be formed. COPE has been dogged from its onset by the ANC and its supporters. COPE meetings have been disrupted, some violently. Childish name calling has poured out of ANC cadres mouths with vehemence, and the ANC is doing everything it can to stumble the party, even threatening the new party with legal action over its name (the name comes from the Freedom Charter, which the ANC considers as its own, which is CRAP because it actually belongs to all South Africans!). All this is a damning indictment of what the ANC will do to keep power. Before the formation of COPE there wasnt an opposition party credible enough to take the ANC on. Now that there is, the ANCs truer colours are showing! Things were looking very depressing post Polokwane (the conference where Zuma was named ANC president) and pre COPE, but with the new party, SA politics is becoming exciting! Im sure americans are feeling the same way at the moment; these next couple of years are going to be very intresting! As for the 2nd part of your question: errrrr ummmmm i'll come back to that one! :)
I just want to respond to the answer "tawneeCURIOUS" gave about us becoming self-suffiecient. You are a fu#$%ng IDIOT! Do you even know what that means? Next time you want to answer a question you can take a rat which you have set alight using some lighter fluid, let it run around on the keyboad, and submit whatever it is that it typed, because that would make more sence that your stupid answer.