Of all the transitions to majority rule in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa’s was probably the most successful, with the Apartheid regime coming to a negotiated end rather than a violent bloodbath.
But thirty years of African National Congress rule, either solo or in coalition, find South Africa undergoing a gradual collapse toward Sub-Saharan standards, as seen in this France 24 video on the decline of Johannesburg.
“Johannesburg, once the economic powerhouse of all of Africa. But over the last 20 years the city, has fallen into decay, the inner city streets are lined with trash, potholes, and degraded footpaths. And broken infrastructure has led to contaminated rivers and wasted drinking water.”
“Adele is part of a resident crisis committee. She says her complaints to the council about broken pipes often go unheard.” “Now we just have rivers of excrement and trash.”
These an upstream river trash catch facility that’s been broken for two years.
“Johannesburg restricted access to tap water for residents in November, but more than a third of available drinking water is wasted from broken infrastructure.”
“The African National Congress has been bleeding support in Johannesburg since 2016, leading to chaotic coalitions. Infighting and opportunism which has seen the city ruled by ten different mayors over the last five years. With each change of mayor, infrastructure contracts are often abandoned and administration staff are fired. On top of that, corruption has plagued the mayoral committee during the tender process.”
There’s some high-minded blather about separating the bidding process from politics. Good luck with that.
“The decay of Johannesburg goes beyond broken pipes and sink holes. In the city center, entire 15-story buildings are hijacked by criminal syndicates or squatters who refuse to pay for services or rent.” Gangs will just dump bodies in the building to let them rot in place.
When competent government and dedication to the rule of law gives way to a spoils system, decay inevitably follows, either in Johannesburg or in America’s deep blue inner cities…
This entry was posted on Saturday, February 22nd, 2025 at 11:59 AM and is filed under Budget, Crime, video, Waste and Fraud. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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“Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.
Whatever remedy is undertaken, it will not be with USAID funds. Last month, Trump embargoed an aid package to South Africa because of Pretoria’s insistence on a land confiscation scheme that targeted White farmers.
2023 saw $440 million in assistance go to underwrite South African criminal malfeasance. I don’t foresee China or Dubai covering the shortfall anytime soon.
I had a good South African friend in grad school. He was a former Captain in their armed forces and had spent time in the Angolan border wars. He returned to his home country, married, has a couple of children. But his home country is committing suicide, reverting to African tribalism and barbarism.
I keep wondering if I’ll hear from him and need to provide him assistance in fleeing with his family back to the US. I’d be happy to do so.
“Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.
This is known as ‘bad luck’.”
– Robert Heinlein
Whatever remedy is undertaken, it will not be with USAID funds. Last month, Trump embargoed an aid package to South Africa because of Pretoria’s insistence on a land confiscation scheme that targeted White farmers.
2023 saw $440 million in assistance go to underwrite South African criminal malfeasance. I don’t foresee China or Dubai covering the shortfall anytime soon.
Ah, Diversity! Such a strength!
I had a good South African friend in grad school. He was a former Captain in their armed forces and had spent time in the Angolan border wars. He returned to his home country, married, has a couple of children. But his home country is committing suicide, reverting to African tribalism and barbarism.
I keep wondering if I’ll hear from him and need to provide him assistance in fleeing with his family back to the US. I’d be happy to do so.