South Africa is trapped again: what kind of leaders can set the country free

CHRIS JONES|

FORMER South African president Thabo Mbeki recently painted a gloomy picture of the country and its prospects. He said the governing African National Congress (ANC), led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, did not have a national plan to address the country’s many socio-economic problems. These include high and growing unemployment, inequality, poverty and crime.

The official national unemployment rate is 34.5%. The country is also the most unequal in the world, and about 55.5% (30.3 million people) of the population live in poverty.

Mbeki served two terms as ANC president, from 1997 to 2007, and national president, from 1999 to 2008. South Africa enjoyed an average GDP growth rate of 4.2% during his tenure, making him and finance minister Trevor Manuel the most successful economic combination in South Africa’s young democracy. Yet the country’s socio-economic problems, inherited from apartheid, persisted during his tenure.

Mbeki expressed concern about ANC politicians who did not serve the people of South Africa, but who were