Diagnoses Of Doom Mask Denial About Real Problems Facing South Africa

STEVEN FRIEDMAN|

TO understand South Africa today, we need to recognise that people can focus endlessly on a country’s problems but still live in a state of denial.

Hand-wringing about problems which are said to spell the doom of South Africa’s negotiated democracy is a well-established custom. It began only months after the first election in which all adults could vote in 1994.

It has become louder over the past decade and dominates the national debate, which is the preserve of the minority who enjoy access to media.

Right now, violence in the KwaZulu Natal province, attacks on the judiciary by former president Jacob Zuma and his supporters, and an unemployment rate of 34% are the immediate causes of dismay.

But, while the issues change, claims that the country is in deep trouble are routine.

Despite this, the national debate – which is restricted to an elite comprising around a