« McCain's Contempt For Obama |
Main
| Bruno! »
27 Sep 2008 02:07 pm
Thabo Mbeki Says Goodbye
Reihan is saddened by that state of affairs in South Africa:
As Nelson Mandela's deputy, Mbeki played a central role in shaping post-apartheid South Africa. Once regarded as a man of rare promise, he has been a failure, not least by the lofty standards he set for himself.
Things could be worse in South Africa, as evidenced by the chaos and misery that prevails in neighboring Zimbabwe. But South Africa was once a model of racial reconciliation, a political
miracle more remarkable in some respects than the collapse of the
Soviet dictatorship. And under Mbeki, South Africa was supposed to spark an African
renaissance. Instead, South Africa has grown increasingly violent and
poverty-scarred, and even its vaunted tolerance is at risk. From his
know-nothing crusade against the scientific consensus on AIDS, which
was likely responsible for thousands of deaths, to his embrace of
thuggish kleptocrats, Mbeki has endangered all that generations of ANC
freedom fighters achieved. Having abandoned Marxist-Leninist economics,
Mbeki also abandoned the ANC's anti-racism, choosing instead to embrace
a cynical racial populism to mask the unpopularity of neoliberal
reforms. It was a clever political gambit, but one that threatens to
poison South African democracy.
Share This
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d83451c45669e2010534cb587b970b
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference 'Thabo Mbeki Says Goodbye'
