Modern South Africa is a rich nation made up of mostly poor people. This fact became obvious to me when I visited during my semester abroad. It only takes a three-minute drive between Sandton, a city filled with giant glass skyscrapers, and Alexandra, a cramped township lacking decent public infrastructure, to see this disparity. Soweto, the nation’s largest township, is filled with dystopian rows of tin shacks that lack running water, power, and doors. Meanwhile, Cape Town is full of huge buildings and fancy modern architecture. The statistics back this up, too: the nation is ranked as the worst in the world by the Gini coefficient, a metric used to assess income inequality, and has been for some time now. Unemployment is sky-high, basic services are faltering, and the power goes out for hours every day.
The story told about South Africa in the United States usually omits its modern history in favor of one that has been sanitized. The classic retelling goes like this: “for several decades, the government created a system called apartheid, in which Black people became second-class citizens. Then, in 1994, Nelson Mandela became the president, defeated racism, and turned the nation into a new democracy representing everyone equally. A new, progressive constitution was written, international investment began to flow back into the nation, and they all lived happily ever after.” What is usually not included in this telling is that in the thirty years since the African National Congress (ANC) assumed power in 1994, the ANC has repeatedly failed to fulfill its promises. It has lied to, cheated, and stolen from the very people who supported its rise to power. While it once represented a new dawn for the nation, the ANC has become a corrupt and self-serving entity that has turned its back on most South Africans in the process of securing political power. So what happened here in the years since 1994? What choices (or lack thereof) have the ANC made to bring the country to this point? What does the future of South Africa look like on this trajectory and is there any way to change it?
Part 1: Understanding South Africa’s Modern Issues
As previously stated, inequality remains a massive issue. According to the United Nations, the top 10% of the population owns more than 55% of assets and more than 99% of all bonds and stocks, while the bottom 90% own less than 15% of national wealth. Two facts put this statistical inequality into sharp relief. Firstly, the nation’s two richest people, Nicky Oppenheimer and Johann Rupert, own more than 50% of the country’s wealth. Secondly, the net worth of the bottom 50% of the population is -$2,600 USD, meaning they owe more than the value of everything they own. To afford food, water, and basic shelter, a majority of the population is forced to rely upon predatory loans with high interest rates. The wealth gap is only growing larger. The average wage gap between executives and their workers in South Africa has increased by over 500% since 1993, one year prior to the fall of apartheid.
As I traveled across the country, I asked locals what they felt was the most pressing political issue facing modern South Africa. Everyone answered “Unemployment.” Whether I asked my middle-aged host mom, her 21-year-old daughter, a beggar in Soweto, or my local guide, the answer was always the same. Official estimates guess that over 40% of working-aged people are currently unemployed. Frustratingly, that number is a significant increase from the 34% unemployment rate in 1994, the first year after the end of apartheid. This means that the average South African has fewer employment opportunities today than they would have during Mandela’s first term. Throughout my time in the country, I was overwhelmed by how many people were either homeless, jobless, or both. Hearing the figure “40%” is one thing. Seeing hundreds of people without a sense of purpose, future, or hope is another. Lastly, it is important to note that employment statistics drastically differ by race. White South Africans only have a 7% unemployment rate, more than five times less than that of their Black counterparts.
For the slight majority of people who are working, typical wages are horrible. The minimum wage (which was updated in 2023) is set at an appalling USD 1.31 per hour. The median wage in the country is only around $16,714. This means that the “lucky” half of the population given the opportunity to work at all can barely afford to sustain a family. After costs for rent, transportation, school, water, electricity, taxes, and other necessary expenses, barely any money is left at the end of each month, if any. Part of the difficulty stems from the dilapidated and slowly-eroding public services the ANC has worked to divest from. With even less support from the state, poverty and financial instability have become much more common. Similar to the unemployment crisis, wages are likewise plagued by racial inequality. On average, white people can expect to earn three times more than Black people can in South Africa.
The racial divide in the nation’s economy is only further exacerbated by underperforming public services, many of which have been slashed by the adoption of neoliberal economics, corruption, or both. The most obvious public service failing is energy. Eskom, the state-owned national power company, was once regarded as one of the best power providers in the world. It was founded as a coal and hydroelectric utility in 1923, helping to power the booming mining industry. Decades later, the apartheid government invested more in the state-owned enterprise, increasing grid capacity. When 1994 came around and the new democracy was formed, Eskom was a key part of the economic redistributive process. Because reliable access to power is both a strong indicator of possible economic growth and a major way to improve the lives of normal people, a strong grid is essential. For a while, the company thrived. It expanded access, increased capacity, and began to turn to renewable energy options. In fact, in 2001, the Financial Times rated Eskom “the world’s best power company.” Now, for a variety of preventable reasons, Eskom is in shambles. Across the entire country, semi-scheduled rolling blackouts (dubbed “load shedding”) occur daily for hours. All the while, the company is exporting power to neighboring nations like Namibia and Zimbabwe. Even electricity has become an issue of wealth. Not only can many areas simply not afford power, but to keep the lights on at any hour of the day, some individuals have turned to large and expensive battery packs that serve as a housewife generator.
Load shedding affects not just homes, but also entire square kilometers of the grid. One of the most unsettling examples of how bad things are can be seen in hospitals across the country. Not exempted from load shedding until May 2023 (after a lawsuit that ended up in the Pretoria High Court), these public services had to deal with a constantly shifting and irregular schedule. Because power can be a matter of life or death, most hospitals had to invest in increased generator backup power and batteries before 2023. To this day, hundreds lack the dedicated hardware needed to follow the court’s order to ensure power reaches hospitals. For one example, from just April to July 2023, the Western Cape Department of Health reported spending “12 million Rand just on diesel,” even though originally the department had allocated only five million Rand for generator fuel.
Another huge public issue is housing. Apartheid forced people of color to move out of their homes and into underfunded and poorly built townships that lacked work opportunities. Those who had jobs in city centers often spent a significant amount of time and money on transport every day. Knowing that land theft was one of the biggest problems facing South Africans of color, the new post-apartheid government promised to provide support; yet, promises to fix housing (along with allocating cash reparations) were unfulfilled. For example, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which has always been a supporter of small government spending, recommended that the state spend about 7-8% of its budget to support housing needs between 1997 and 2002. The ANC opted to spend only 1.7%. Across the country, no matter where you are, you can find improvised housing made from spare plywood, scrap metal, and plastic waste. Most of these houses do not have running water and few have electricity. In cities like Cape Town, the homeless population has surpassed 14,000 citizens. While patchwork laws are being passed to try to combat homelessness, the truth is that housing is a systemic problem that seems unlikely to improve with current economic policy and spending.
When I asked locals to name the most important political issue after unemployment, many said education. According to a 2020 Amnesty International report, education in South Africa is “characterized by crumbling infrastructure, overcrowded classrooms, and relatively poor educational outcomes [that are] perpetuating inequality and as a result failing too many of its children, with the poor hardest hit ….” From the 1940s to 1994, numerous laws, including the infamous 1953 Bantu Education Act, segregated students by race. Under apartheid, Black classrooms had a student-teacher ratio of 39:1 compared to the 18:1 ratio for white students. Additionally, 96% of teachers in white schools had a teaching certificate compared to only 16% of teachers in Black schools. As a result, the pass rates of Black students were less than half those of white students. The sad truth is that the education system is still underperforming decades after apartheid’s end and remains incredibly unequal. In the Amnesty International report, researchers discovered numerous infrastructural issues affecting hundreds of schools across South Africa. Mainly in predominantly Black townships, these included “unhygienic, poorly maintained and unsafe sanitation, badly maintained buildings that had never been renovated, and overcrowded classrooms without basic equipment and materials such as furniture and textbooks.” The simple truth is that for many schools in poor areas, buildings are falling apart, students have no access to the very material they are supposed to be learning, and poor student-teacher ratios still plague classrooms.
While several other public services are also falling behind, power, housing, and education were the three most discussed when I visited South Africa. When 1994 came and Mandela was elected, there was a sense of hope, pride, and excitement in the country. Who better understood how to rebuild South Africa than the ANC, the organizational face of the liberation movement? They promised robust redistribution and smart policy to right the wrongs of the apartheid state. Yet, the ANC has failed to create effective programming and largely opted to minimally address the roots of the apartheid system. Molefi Mataboge, my guide in Johannesburg, put it simply: “The government is trying to fix a manmade disaster by treating it like a natural one.”
Part 2: Exploring the Past
The root of these modern issues are old. It did not start in the 1940s under the National Party nor did it begin in 1994 with the ANC. Instead, it began hundreds of years ago when the first Europeans came to the region and decided to settle here. We often talk about colonialism as though it were primarily driven by racism. As much as race was used as justification for the atrocities committed by a myriad of European countries, greed and money were the motivation. Whether in the Americas, Asia, or Europe, colonists sought to steal the natural and manmade resources of foreign lands and return them to some crown or company thousands of miles away. This was no different in South Africa. In 1652, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) established Cape Town as a resupply post during the long journey to India. Over the next few hundred years, these Dutch colonialists subjugated thousands of African people and developed a complex system of slavery. These captured slaves were then forced to work for the profit of the company. In time, the British also colonized the region, seeking economic opportunity and land. Eventually, South Africa was stripped of its natural resources and its people were killed, enslaved, or forced to leave.
Greed and a need for constant consumption fueled both the Dutch and British. In the end, their similarly insatiable appetites led to armed conflict. In 1899, the South African War, in which the large British army faced off against the relatively smaller Boer (Dutch) forces, broke out. Perhaps not surprisingly, many historians agree that the war was largely motivated by both parties’ desire to govern the Witwatersrand gold mining complex. At the time, it was the largest gold mine in the world and especially valuable because most European currencies were backed by the value of gold. Throughout the conflict, local Black Africans were constantly involved and sometimes even offered political rights in exchange for their military support. While many died in the war, they never gained any meaningful political rights. In the end, the Boers agreed to a peace settlement that established a system of white minority rule in South Africa.
Like in other parts of the world, the conquest of South Africa was primarily motivated by the interests of colonialist capitalism. While racism was no doubt integral to colonialist projects, it was a desire to control the mining centers that ultimately led to conquest and war. For example, the need for a resupply post along the trade route to Asia inspired the Dutch to establish Cape Town. The desire for cheap, easy wealth created slavery.
It is no surprise that the control of capital continued to be a major theme in the apartheid system throughout the 20th century. The desire to retain their ill-gotten wealth motivated the white minority government to create a system of separation that made it impossible for Black South Africans to become financially successful. While there is no doubt that deeply ingrained racist attitudes perpetuated this system, much of its purpose and objectives were centered on controlling their ability to access wealth. For instance, infamous “pass” laws required Black people to carry passbooks that contained all of their personal information including their home address and if they had employment in a white area. Frequently harassed by law enforcement, these pass laws were used to keep Black people from entering so-called white areas unless they already had proof of employment. Pass laws made finding jobs complicated and difficult for Black South Africans. Crowded townships were created and Black neighborhoods in cities were demolished, further forcing mass migration into areas with few job opportunities, safety, or public services. Additionally, the unequal education system prevented Black, Colored, and Indian people from receiving the same quality of instruction as that of their white peers. In short, the white minority’s monopoly on the nation’s capital was integral to the system of apartheid.
This wealth gap was also enlarged through sophisticated corruption schemes that heavily favored white South African individuals and businesses. Beyond the legal discrimination that made life easier for white people, rampant paternalism and nepotism also made it far easier for white businesses and organizations to land government contracts. Additionally, rent-seeking was common, letting the minority government further enrich corrupt white bureaucrats through new projects and developments. According to Dale McKinley’s South Africa’s Corporatised Liberation, when the ANC rose to power, it was these corrupt white bureaucrats who trained the first generation of new Black politicians. They learned how to “play the game” from government workers who had been trained to inspire corruption instead of rooting it out. The book also describes how the ANC failed to address the rotten legal foundations the National Party had installed deep inside the political system. For instance, for numerous commissions allegedly investigating ANC corruption, a 1947 apartheid-era law was enforced so that the findings were first reported to the President before being released to the public. When each finding came back with no evidence of any corruption taking place, few were surprised. After all, it was often a close friend of the president or the president himself who was investigated in each commission. In many of these commissions, members chose to walk out, with one frustratedly proclaiming that they had become “an institution that is so deeply compromised that its primary outcome will be to cover up the facts.”
In the mid-1900s, a revolution began brewing. Motivated by the inhumane conditions of apartheid, citizens began to protest, riot, and form armed resistance groups in an attempt to dismantle years of systemic racism. By the ‘80s, white corporations were beginning to understand that change was inevitable. Cleverly, they began to adapt and negotiate with revolutionaries to safeguard their wealth following the birth of a new democracy. Take the Anglo American Corporation as a case study. Founded in 1917 by a German immigrant, the company was financially backed by J.P. Morgan & Co. and British investors, and it was determined to take over the South African mining industry. Over the next few decades, the brand expanded, becoming one of the largest mining companies in the world and a leading producer of resources such as platinum and coal. Founded and backed by rich white capital in the USA and the UK, Anglo American’s leadership and stakeholders have almost all been white. During the 20th century, Anglo American used apartheid to get ahead, rapidly expanding mining operations that continued in the same footsteps as past colonial forces and sending the bulk of that wealth to foreign white investors. In recent years, past workers have accused the company of terribly unequal pay amounting to “slave labor.” In the 1970s and ‘80s, Anglo American began to start so-called “progressive” action, including public statements about how apartheid should end and instituted a quota system for increased Black recruitment. By the late 1980s, Anglo American and other white corporations were in talks with the ANC to ensure that capitalism would remain alive and well under a new regime. When discussing what the future of the nation would look like under the ANC, Anglo American CEO Gavin Relly didn’t mince words:
“I think that there is a coherent sense for businessmen to want to find out if there is common ground … that a free enterprise society is demonstrably better at creating wealth than some type of Marxist socialism. I would have thought it was self-evident … that nobody wants to play a role in a country where the economy … was destroyed either by a sort of Marxist approach to wealth creation, or by a … revolution.”
Even when faced with accusations of how the company benefited from racism, Anglo American officials deny they supported apartheid and refuse to consider any sort of reparations for Black South Africans. Today, the company still rakes in sky-high profits, generating over 35 billion USD in 2022 alone.
The story of Anglo American is not unique. It is emblematic of how white corporations played their cards during this transition period. Through their new “progressive” stances on racial issues, these corporations solidified their power and wealth. It is obvious that these companies opportunistically began maximizing profit under the safety of a deeply racist state. Just as politicians in apartheid South Africa did, the top executives of Anglo American stuffed their pockets while almost no wealth “trickled down” to the Black majority, whose land had been stolen and labor had been radically undervalued. When they felt a change coming, these white capitalists rushed to embrace a new era of South African democracy. Today, the grandson of Anglo American’s founder is worth billions of dollars. At the same time, millions of South Africans are unemployed, struggling, and losing hope their lives will ever change.
While it would be disingenuous to blame all of South Africa’s problems on corporate greed, there is no doubt that private capital has played a pivotal role throughout this history. How a nation manages capital and finds ways to distribute that wealth to a majority of its people is one of the most important determinants of future success. In a country such as South Africa, with rich mineral wealth and a productive economy, long-term success comes down to understanding how to spread that money around fairly and sustainably.
As we revisit South Africa’s colonial and apartheid past, it becomes clear that there exists an alarming number of underlying risk factors for poorly managed governance. Colonialism and white supremacy are directly responsible for the many issues South Africa faces today. Whether pillaging gold reserves in the 1800s or using a corrupt apartheid government to deprive Blacks of economic opportunity in the 1900s, there can be no fixing modern South Africa without addressing this history head-on. By 1994, these issues had become institutionalized, spreading to every sector of the economy and every part of daily life. When the ANC rose to power in the 1980s, its leaders promised to provide comprehensive solutions to these class divides. They failed.
Part 3: Investigating South Africa under the ANC
For the last thirty years, the ANC and its leaders have either misunderstood key issues in South Africa or understood but ignored the need to fix widespread inequality for their own self-interest. Either way, the choices they have made have not only failed to help solve many of colonialism’s problems, but in some cases, worsened them. Three specific errors have characterized the ANC’s post-apartheid failures. First, the quick adoption of neoliberal economic reforms failed to properly redistribute wealth in a country where the deck had been stacked against 90% of the populace for hundreds of years. Second, systematic corruption, largely inspired by the paternalism and nepotism of the apartheid government, has rendered even the most well-meaning policies inert. Lastly, the lack of a significant political opposition movement has deprived the ANC of the humility and accountability needed to effectively govern a state.
The economic policy the ANC ultimately embraced failed to understand and then address the massive wealth gap that existed after de jure segregation was abolished. Under the advice of several Western countries and international organizations like the IMF and World Bank, South Africa eventually swore to maintain a free market with few protective measures and policies. But this was not always the case. In fact, Nelson Mandela’s government actually did create a progressive redistribution system, dubbed the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), that was adopted in 1994. Among other accomplishments, the program funded the creation of housing for over five million people, expanded the energy grid to 1.75 million homes, constructed sewer systems and roads, ensured wider access to healthcare, and installed access to clean water for almost five million people. While critics argued that none of these measures were perfect by any means, the RDP did make significant strides in helping the most marginalized of South African society. However, RDP was largely abandoned in 1996 with the announcement of a new plan named Growth, Employment, and Redistribution (GEAR). Instead of focusing on fixing the massive wealth and power inequalities in the country, GEAR embraced a neoliberal economic model that followed the classic ideas of modernization theory. During the launch of the new model, the future president and important ANC politician Thabo Mbeki excitedly asked people to “Just call me a Thatcherite.” It was a reference to Margret Thatcher, a woman who infamously branded the ANC a “typical terrorist organization” and claimed there was “no alternative” to neoliberalism. In the years that followed, the government continued to divest from state-funded programs and resources, loosened economic restrictions on trade and commerce, and encouraged international investment. While the ANC had convinced many on the left that this capitalist policy was the first part of a two-part plan that concluded with a socialist struggle, the latter never developed. Instead, GEAR only made corporations more powerful, and wealth inequality swelled. The effects of this policy are apparent and alarming. The economic situation is dire, with the top few percent owning nearly all the wealth and young people largely hopeless about their own employment prospects. Yet, neoliberal economics explains only part of what has happened in South Africa.
Corruption continues to impede the young democracy. Like many of its Southern African neighbors, systems of paternalism and nepotism have infiltrated the highest offices of government and private industry over the last twenty-five years. This is evident in the government-run energy provider Eskom, which has become one of the most corrupt facets of the modern ANC-run government. In a recent documentary by the Financial Times, numerous schemes involving local Eskom employees and companies revealed how money manages to disappear and power continues to be unreliable. In one scheme, a truck driver “transports” coal back and forth multiple times a day, recording each trip. By bribing those who offload the product and then sign off on its delivery, these drivers simply pretend to carry cargo over and over, pocketing the money and wasting time and resources. In larger, more dangerous schemes, workers at power plants are paid off to intentionally sabotage critical equipment. Then, when determining the cost to fix it, local officials give absurd estimates. When corporations are contracted to supply the missing parts and fix the plant, they are ridiculously overpaid. A small fraction of that sum goes towards servicing the plant and the rest of the money is embezzled by the workers involved in the scheme. In one specific instance, past Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter described a similar scheme in which a factory was paying USD 8,700 for a pair of knee pads. This out-of-control corruption has led to Eskom being described by some as “the biggest criminal syndicate in South Africa.”
The consequences of Eskom’s corruption have been widespread and terrible. Load shedding remains common in every part of the nation, even affecting traffic lights, which is dangerous for obvious reasons. In addition, due to the negligence with which it has been managed and the funds that have been stolen from it, Eskom has continued to run almost all of its production on coal. In 2021, Eskom was given the not-so-envious title of the “planet’s largest emitter,” beating out companies in large nations such as China and the United States. Several plants remain unfinished or so poorly maintained they cannot function. Unfortunately, Eskom’s ineptitude is more the rule than the exception. According to some estimates, during the ten years President Jacob Zuma was in office, over 35 billion USD was plundered from taxpayers and pocketed by politicians in numerous industries.
There is little doubt that many modern challenges in modern South Africa stem from the blurred lines between the ANC and the government. The party and the state have been largely one and the same for the past thirty years. In every major election, ANC members win a large swath of the seats and elect a president who is a party member. While The South African Communist Party (SACP) and Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) could potentially present alternatives to ANC rule, they have long been absorbed into the ruling party. Taking part in many of the same corrupt schemes as their party allies, neither of these groups embodies the same mission they had when they joined the liberation movement in the late twentieth century. To make matters worse, the next largest party after the ANC is the Democratic Alliance (DA). Rising from the ashes of the opposition party during apartheid, the DA is largely viewed as the modern South African party for white people and is mainly interested in representing rich white interests. While they have tried to change their image many times, a history of racist incidents on the part of its members has continued to make it an unpopular option for many. Many people I met in South Africa said they could never see themselves voting for the DA. In terms of their effectiveness, the DA has been somewhat better at providing services than the ANC in the few places they rule, although that is not saying much. The DA is typically described as somewhat centrist and has called for even more privatization, including allowing individuals and private companies to enter the energy market. While the result may be better than letting a “criminal syndicate” provide power, it is also likely to make reliable energy more expensive and available only to the rich. These fears were echoed constantly by locals I talked to in Johannesburg, many of whom are already struggling with the bills they pay today.
Decades of political dominance have made the ANC complacent, greedy, and lacking in the healthy fear that helps ensure accountability in a democracy. There is a naive sense of entitlement that flows through every part of the ruling party. It compels its members to make ridiculous statements, such as when Jacob Zuma once proclaimed that “[The ANC is] more important than the Constitution. No political force can destroy the ANC – it is only the ANC that can destroy itself… [the Constitution is only there] to regulate matters.” Because the ANC brought an end to apartheid, its leaders argue that they have a perpetual right to the South African throne. The irony, of course, is that apartheid came to an end because the regular people of South Africa had had enough of the apartheid regime and rose up in collective, widespread action for social change. Now, the same people who once fought to make lives better for Black South Africans are the same politicians who justify spending almost USD 50 million on luxury cars while their constituents struggle to feed their families.
Part 4: Finding Some Solutions
While the current political situation seems bleak, the silver lining is that South Africa’s economic fundamentals are solid. At the moment, according to the IMF, it is the third-richest African country by nominal GDP. Johannesburg is home to the largest African stock exchange. Looking to the future, South Africa has some of the brightest potential for clean energy development. Whether turning to wind, solar, or biofuel, the nation looks poised to embrace the next generation of power production. Additionally, South Africa still contains a plethora of mineral resources. It remains the fifth largest producer of gold, 78% of global platinum comes from its mines, and it has the second largest uranium reserves. GDP trends indicate this pattern too, with the figure more than doubling since 1995. The simple truth is that there is ample wealth in the nation and that wealth is not disappearing anytime soon. In the grand scheme of nation-building, creating industry and sparking new economic growth are some of the most difficult tasks assigned to any government. Having solid financial assets and markets in South Africa means that proper development depends much more on policy than some predetermined, unchanging geographic truth. So what can be done to start to fix the three main errors in ANC policy?
First, adherence to strictly capitalist economic policy must be reevaluated. These policies are supposed to help improve the economy broadly, with wealth trickling down to the average person. In South Africa, this has not occurred and has only worsened already stark differences between economic classes. By most metrics, normal people are doing the same or worse than in 1994. When unemployment continues to rise but total GDP continues to surge, it becomes clear something is not right.
Secondly, to tackle corruption, lawmakers must reexamine apartheid-era legislation and become steadfast in closing loopholes used by agents to exploit taxpayers. Institutions that review and publish accounts of corruption must become more independent from those they investigate. Part of these reforms should include diversifying power into a wider array of departments and branches. Additionally, there needs to be much stronger protections for the brave whistleblowers who seek to expose corruption. While some legislation is being passed to aid whistleblowers, many are killed for exposing plots. Most of this work will require smart tweaks to existing laws and structures. While this kind of detailed, bureaucratic work is not glamorous, it is essential to forming a more stable government.
Lastly, South Africa needs a challenger. Whether that comes in the form of the DA or another, younger party, the system needs new ideas, new plans, and new management. Decades of complete ANC dominance have made its members feel invincible while embezzling money, providing terrible public services, and letting the power go out for hours on end. Having some sort of real competition for political office will force politicians to become more accountable for their actions. Thankfully, I think the people of South Africa have had enough. I can feel it when I talk to locals and see their frustration and growing dissatisfaction with the ruling party. Leading polls show this trend too, with many indicating a continued decline in popular support for the ANC.
In the next few months, South Africa will hold its general elections. Those elections will reveal a lot about how people feel about the ANC. There is a real chance that the party will lose a significant number of seats, maybe even giving up the majority. Losing the majority would not only be a major political defeat, but it would also send a message. The regular people are tired of not having a job, of watching the rich feast while they starve, and of a corrupt system that fails to deliver on its promises. While many may say that ANC victory is inevitable, the same was said about colonialism and the apartheid government. For hundreds of years, South Africans have fought for freedom and justice, even when it meant paying the ultimate price. Against all odds, they have won time and time again. To think that this new political challenge will be the one that finally defeats their resilience would be to ignore how they got to this point in the first place. While the future is undecided, if anyone can overcome these modern challenges, it is the people of South Africa.