It’s hard for me to reconcile my feelings about South Africa given the state the country is in. My parents chose Canada because it was a beacon of hope, as it still is for many people today. However, I always feel like I’m going home when I go to Cape Town because I know I’ll receive a warm embrace. If you know me, you know that I am proud of my South African roots. Even though I was born in Canada, I identify as a South African-Canadian. My parents left in the 90s amid an economic downturn, political unrest and violence. Canada was an emblem of hope, and it still is for many people today. However, I have never felt attached to my Canadian identity. What little sense of attachment I do have wanes every time I go back to South Africa.
Resource Mismanagement
South Africa is a beautiful nation. Even though Apartheid ended in the 90s, segregation has not. When I last visited, President Jacob Zuma had been ousted and was preparing to stand trial for corruption. Cyril Rhamaposa was newly elected and his first order of business was land redistribution, which would’ve seen farmland seized from the Afrikaaners. Robert Mugabe attempted something similar in neighbouring Zimbabwe in the 80s with disastrous consequences. Think runaway inflation on a scale not seen since the Weimar Republic and widespread famine. That was in 2018 and it has not come to pass, but South Africa still has its problems—namely resource mismanagement.
In 2018, Cape Town was experiencing the worst water crisis the country had ever seen. The dams were at such low capacity, the municipality had set a date when they were going to run dry. A combination of heroic water conservation efforts and the arrival of the winter rain spared the city Day Zero. If it hadn’t, the city planned to continue supplying hospitals but truck water in from other parts of the country to collection points, where people would have to cue for their daily 25 litres. We expected those water transports would be hijacked and people who had the foresight to drill boreholes and erect rainwater tanks would be targeted.
Not dealing with the same water problems earlier this year when I visited, the country is now dealing with worsening load shedding. The grid is down for up to 10 hours per day, and in some parts of Johannesburg, thieves steal copper wiring from the street lights while the power is down. Many of my parents’ friends who stayed behind are now looking for a way to leave.
The State of Poverty
We are not dealing with anything of this magnitude in Canada. I share the sentiments of many young people when I say that our rents are wildly out of control, our healthcare system needs a major overhaul because people are dying on wait lists to see doctors for ailments that have plagued them for years, and we are being more heavily censored with each passing day. But at least we can keep the lights on and the water running.
I thought South Africa was mismanaging things. I went to neighbouring Botswana—a country typically regarded as the most stable, most peaceful, and least corrupt in Africa—which gives you an idea of what you’ll encounter. No. Despite its crumbling infrastructure, South Africa is still much more developed than any of its neighbouring countries. It’s easy to see why it was once considered a first-world country when, from my perspective, the standard of living in Maun was comparable with the townships in South Africa. The difference is that in countries like Botswana, poverty is everywhere. South Africa is a country of extreme wealth and extreme poverty.