CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF DEMOCRACY

This year, South Africa celebrates Ten Years of Democracy. Ten years ago, President Mandela was elected at the president of the country. Yes, it was open ballot, and in some cases the queues went around entire blocks of the townships. Ten years of freedom later, we are bombarded with ads from banners, to radio to television campaigning that the ANC (African National Congress, majority government now) is not good enough. Look what it did for the country for the past ten years.

Mostly white South African are complaining that the country is going through deterioration. People in their 20s and 30s want to immigrate. Their dream destination: America. They say the crime has risen, there is more violence, and hijackings on the street. A security/burglary culture is capitalizing on the fear of South Africans. And what of Affirmative Action? It's taking jobs away from the competent whites in the country and leaving it to underqualified black people who don't know the first thing about efficiency and bureaucracy.

People have said to me, "It's already been ten years and our country is getting worse." or "Why did you come to South Africa from Canada anyway??" But is ten years really enough for big changes to occur? Look, for example, at Germany. It's been fifteen years since the Berlin Wall came down and the unemployment rate is still 30% in the Eastern part. Somebody told me the unemployment rate in South Africa is 25%.

Okay, but let's not talk about a country or even a city like Berlin. What about the Canadian Federal Government? After 20 years of Affirmative Action, the number of female employees is just starting to rival those of the male employees and even then, males are mostly at the top of the food chain. They started campaigning for visible minorities a few years back and we will probably only start seeing the benefits in another 20 years.

There are so many opportunities in South Africa. During the Apartheid, European countries banned trade with South Africa. Now that's over. Even though the white community in SA do not see differences, do the blacks? They are no longer restricted to live in townships, they are able to have a chance to get a better paid job, some even in high positions. The government is making work for unemployed people and there is great support for the BEEs (Black Empowerment Enterprises), SMMEs (Small, medium and micro-enterprises) and emerging businesses as well.

Being a ten year old democratic country is exciting. Imagine all the possibilities. My friend who lives in Cape Town saw many of his friends immigrate to Australia, the UK, and Canada. He grew up in Pretoria and has now decided that there are still opportunities abound in this country (OK, he's in Cape Town, how can he complain?). There is time to see it grow.

People are so uncertain of the future, from those who remember SA as being "white" to those who dream of earning riches in America. What about people who were scared before Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997 and hoards of families fled to North America, Europe and Australia? Now, seven years later, people are returning to HK because the economy is not too bad and they miss their lives there. I can foresee South Africans who have fled the countries come back when they perceive that things are improving.

14 April 2004 is the day to exercise your right to vote. This year, it's a National Holiday so no South Africans have an excuse not to vote (non-SA citizens such as myself, get an extra day to explore the country!). I'd like to come back after twenty years of democracy to see what the new government has done with this young country.