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| Laying of fibre optic cable in Sandton: Nov 2011. Photo by N.V Rakhale |
South Africa will hold it's general elections on 7 May, the same year that marks twenty years since the first democratic elections, in April 1994. In the 20 years since those first elections, when Nelson Mandela became the first President of a free South Africa, much has changed in South Africa.
Major Changes of the Past 20 Years
By far the biggest change was the establishment of the Constitutional Court, which is now the highest court in the land on all constitutional matters ad the ultimate custodian of the constitution in South Africa. There have been significant changes in the workings of our government especially as this relates to the establishment of new national ministries to help broaden government's scope as well as the establishment of the nine provinces and their respective government structures. The ICT sector has been quietly but aggressively rolling out infrastructure to improve connectivity and access to the Internet for the people of South Africa. There is now thousands of kilometers of fibre optic cable traversing the country and mobile penetration is now above 100%. The education system has been fundamentally overhauled at all levels (primary, secondary and tertiary).
It is my point of view that, the major successes of the past twenty years have been largely at an institutional level.
The Next 20 Years of Democracy
While the middle class in South Africa has grown significantly over the past twenty years a majority of the population (mainly Black South Africans) are still poor, with more than 50% of the South Arica people living in abject poverty. The unemployment rate remains very high. The much touted Reconstruction and Development Plan has failed to significantly improve the fortunes of the average South African.
In my opinion, the focus over the next twenty years has to be placed on reducing the prevalence of poverty, driven largely by an aggressive jobs creation plan as well as a plan to improve access to education, especially at a tertiary level among the poor who can not afford university fees.
I believe that South Africa's democracy will thrive only if, over the next twenty years, the focus is placed on improving the social conditions of the people of South Africa on the back of the institutional successes of the past twenty years.
Our Politicians must show a willingness to create effective government!!
