Charges of corruption, cronyism and nepotism against President Jacob Zuma have put the government on the back foot in a country already reeling under high levels of economic inequality and unemployment.
President Jacob Zuma is under enormous political pressure, both from within his party and from the opposition, on an array of issues. His handling of the economy has been particularly under the scanner. Plummeting commodity prices have hit the South African economy hard, which is heavily dependent on mineral exports. The mining sector, dominated by big conglomerates, accounts for 35 percent of the country’s exports. It is the second largest economic sector after agriculture. Since the end of the last year, the value of the South African currency, the rand, has been steadily falling. Concurrently, inflation has been rising. South Africa has one of the highest levels of economic inequality in the world and an unemployment rate of around 25 per cent. Unemployment is higher today than it was during the apartheid regime.
South Africans blame corruption and cronyism for the problems they are facing today. A recent opinion poll revealed that 83 per cent of the people believed that corruption was on the rise in South Africa. There have been quite a few instances of high-level corruption. The head of the South African railways was caught using company funds for taking luxury holidays with female friends. The company’s chief engineer was found to have a fake degree. The railways spent $200 million importing carriages from Spain which were not suited for the country’s railway tracks. There was a lot of documented corruption during the 2010 football World Cup hosted by South Africa. Companies illegally overcharged more than $5 billion for construction contracts relating to the world cup.
This story is from the March 18, 2016 edition of FRONTLINE.
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This story is from the March 18, 2016 edition of FRONTLINE.
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New worries
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