Saturday, June 9, 2012

Zimbabwe vs South Africa

I'm not a political person so this is the first and last time I'll blog about politics. Probably. My visit to South Africa and Zimbabwe over the last few weeks has left me with some vivid images. In South Africa I honestly expected to find all that Cumbaya stuff following the elevation of Nelson Mandela to the presidency to be fraying a bit at the edges. I was wrong. Looks like South Africa is doing fine. Sure they have problems, but the unlikely cooperation between former president, F. W. de Klerk, and former prisoner, Mandela, has not only avoided civil war, it's brought about prosperity and an air of optimism.
Mandela's Cell on Robben Island

I toured Robben Island near Cape Town and saw the jail cell Mandela called home for 18 of his 27 years behind bars. When not breaking rocks in the limestone quarry, Mandela conducted school, call it Robben University, teaching prisoners and guards alike. After his release, now a national hero, he spoke out in favor of cooperation rather than civil war. Former president F. W. de Klerk and former prisoner Mandela worked together to establish what we now see. A country full of optimism and energy. Never friends, Mandela and de Klerk put country above personal considerations. Mandela, now 93 and frail, lives in a very nice house in Johannesburg.

Honest-to-god Zimbabwe money
Zimbabwe,has taken the other road. Following the switch to majority rule in 1980, they took a scorched earth approach to land management with the result that practically no agriculture or production of anything else is left. The economy spun out of control. Inflation devalued their currency to the ridiculous degree you see in the photo. This was a real bill. Now their official currency is the U.S. dollar. How did we get so lucky? Actually, Zimbabweans will accept almost any currency: dollars, rands, euros, socks. They really like socks. Most of our group left a pile of clothing in our rooms when we checked out. Now these are educated people with a strong work ethic. They're stuck. Their government is disfunctional and elections are rigged.

While in Johannesburg, we toured Soweto, the district where riots made international news in the 1970's. Soweto is looking better. They still have some squalid tin-and-cardboard camps, but now they they're full of refugees from Zimbabwe.


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