According to our local tour guide, Linda Leung, South Africa has a population of 52 million. 78% are black Africans and 12% white. Officially, unemployment is 20 over percent. She put the figure at 43%.
Poverty is obvious as one traverses across this country. Along highways and in particular at traffic junctions, many black peddlers can be seen selling all kinds of things, most are selling home-made items of handicrafts. Some also act as walking advertisements promoting products or advertising upcoming events.
Making and marketing of handicrafts is big industry in South Africa. The blacks are very creative people.
Many blacks definitely have benefitted under the black government of Nelson Mandela and the subsequent black presidents. Thousands and thousands of houses have been built and given to the blacks free of charge.
Ironically, Malaysia exported their NEP to South Africa which they call BEE (Black Economic Empowerment). All businesses must employ a certain quota of black. 25% of the shares of a company must be reserved for black. This may be good initially when the poorer people are assisted to move up the economic ladder. However, taking the wealth from the minority and give it to the majority who do not work for it is not sustainable in the long term. If such policy is adopted indefinitely, it would only create generations of people who just live on crutches. Unless a deadline is set for such policy, this will eventually lead to a failed nation. In the end, the greatest losers are the people who are supposed to benefit from such policy :(
Zimbabwe is a good example of this. Currently, 10,000 Zimbabwean dollars can't even buy a loaf of bread. It's easy to be a trillionaire in Zimbabwe!
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