Comments on No Matter What the Monicker...

Go to If I get smart with you....how will you know?Add a commentGo to No Matter What the Monicker...

Re: Pat B

Oh, Corbin - I'm so sorry to hear this. I guess I was misled by the stories of celebs and others from the states taking vacations to Capetown & other tourist sites there. As for the poor living in misery while the rich enjoy privileges and luxury, that also applies to the good old USA. 

posted by Pat_B on January 19, 2018 at 2:13 PM | link to this | reply

Pat B

I hit the wrong Button......You are referring to the former , Pre-Zuma, South Africa......

Johannesburg - A little over 20 years since the end of apartheid, South Africa has declined from an international beacon under the inspirational leadership of Nelson Mandela to a case history for unfulfilled potential under President Jacob Zuma.

It is startling to consider that the Rainbow Nation, which nurtured an icon of the 20th century in Mandela and another almost saintly figure in Archbishop Desmond Tutu, has also produced Zuma, tainted by numerous corruption scandals and a symbol of the government’s failure to fulfil the hopes of the majority black population when apartheid ended in 1994.

South Africa remains one of the most unequal societies in the world, with the poor living in misery while the rich, both black and white, enjoy privileges and luxury.

Comparisons with Mandela are iniquitous, given his god-like status. But Zuma, 75, appears to have taken the country in the opposite direction to the iconic statesman.

Far from being a beacon, South Africa can now in some ways be compared to other African countries sadly scarred by misgovernment and corruption – the very outcome Mandela strove to avoid.

CATALOGUE OF SCANDALS

Zuma, president since 2009, has been linked to an eye-watering catalogue of sexual and financial scandals that go back to his time as vice president in 2005 when he was fired by Mandela’s successor, Thabo Mbeki, because of the conviction of his financial advisor for bribery.

Other scandals included spending about R210 million ($16 million) of public money on upgrading his private residence. 

South Africa has the most sophisticated economy in sub-Saharan Africa and is blessed with abundant natural resources. But it is in recession, and unemployment is at a 14-year high of nearly 28 percent.

What is more, the rand currency slumped and two of the three global ratings agencies downgraded South Africa to junk after Zuma in March abruptly fired his respected Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and replaced him with inexperienced loyalist Malusi Gigaba, the second time he had provoked a similar crisis.

Zuma said recently growth for this year would be below 0.5 percent, against earlier forecasts of 1.3 percent.

They need to get rid of Ozuma...I mean, Zuma........

posted by Corbin_Dallas on January 19, 2018 at 12:54 PM | link to this | reply

Pat B....good to see you drop by......

posted by Corbin_Dallas on January 19, 2018 at 12:48 PM | link to this | reply

It does make one think.

posted by FormerStudentIntern on January 19, 2018 at 9:34 AM | link to this | reply

It seems to me South Africa is still a thriving civilized country.

Seems to me mismanagement and ignorance exist in all countries - parts of the USA in and states run by educated and trained whites - qualify as sh*tholes. As for Japan, their society was anything but primitive when WWII started, so America can't take more than a share of the credit for their economic and technical success 70 years on. 

BTW, it's so good to read your work again. Clearly you have done your homework and there's no meanness or spite built in - just facts and findings. Thanks. 

posted by Pat_B on January 19, 2018 at 7:55 AM | link to this | reply

Corbin

Yes, dictator Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe took away all the farms that non-blacks owned and gave them to blacks who knew nothing about farming.  This was in the early 2000's.  This and other vicious oppression crashed the economy, and soon it cost 100 trillion dollars to buy lunch.  I have a 100 trillion dollar bill from Zimbabwe.

So where were Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, to condemn this horrific oppression of white people in Zimbabwe??

posted by GoldenMean on January 19, 2018 at 6:04 AM | link to this | reply