Ron Brown has placed his point-man in southern Africa. It’s an ambitious move to help Africa to get up and go for it Neil Lurssen surveys the prospects. More than three years· ago when the South African transition was on the cards, but by no means a certainty, he wrote a paper for Washington’s Center […]
180 days after taking office, South African President Nelson Mandela has charmed the world and is loved by his people. But a nation cannot live on love alone. Now the people must learn to be patient as his new government comes to grips with the vast backlogs created by apartheid. Patience, though, must not be allowed […]
Apartheid denied the most basic rights to millions of South Africans. Now, huge backlogs in housing, education, health care and job creation must be tackled. Jay Naidoo, as Minister without Portfolio in the new Government of National Unity, is the person in charge of co-ordinating a Reconstruction and Development Program (RDP) involving the provision of […]
Dramatic contrast••• the RDP aims to build hundreds of thousands of low-cost houses to accommodate squatters who have built vast shack lands on the fringes of South Africa’s towns and cities. Here, a new housing scheme near Johannesburg contrasts with a shanty town. After the pomp and ceremony of South Africa’s transition fromapartheid to democracy, the […]
The thing you’ve got to wonder about Donald Gordon is why, at the age of 64, he has launched into another stage of his career. Surely after all he has achieved he could pack up a few trunks and retire to somewhere peaceful like the Galapagos Islands, spending his days taking one hour at a […]
Chris Freimond profiles South Africa’s new man in Washington. Some cynics may be tempted to believe Franklin Sonn has been designated South Africa’s next ambassador to the United States simply because he is black and a supporter of President Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress (ANC). They should think again. Sonn (54) has many of the […]
Jon Swift asks Ernie Els: what are your favourite golf courses in South Africa? Els obliges. When Ernie Els broke through at Oakmont to win the US Open title, the amiable young South African announced to the world that not only was he a great golfer in the making but that he was capable of […]
Months after the euphoria of the South African election has passed, and the image of President Mandela’s triumphal state visit to the United States has faded from the television screens, South Africans are left alone with the challenge of solving their own problems and defining their national interest. The nettlesome questions which South Africans now […]
As Galileo established in science and the Impressionists demonstrated for art, how one sees the world depends on the lens through which it is viewed. This insight is critical to comprehending the basis for a successful relationship between Americans and South Africans. The fascination which the South African story holds for Americans is easily understood. […]
A strong, confident NGO community will be central to mediation between the state and the private sector in a democracy that is facing the risky politics of social welfare. By Gail M. Leftwich As the aid window closes for Africa, it is imperative that South Africa’s NGO community “gets its act together” in order to […]