Gap Year Experiences

Politics and travel

Tuesday 23 September 2008

A slightly different blog today, but pretty relevant I think. For anyone that follows any sort of news, you will probably have heard of the recent events in South Africa involving the current president of the country, Thabo Mbeki resigning under pressure from his own party, the ANC. Now this news has sparked some panick among a lot of people and specially among some of you who were considering travelling to the country in the near future. Claims that the country is heading downhill and going to go the way of Zimbabwe are fairly common and a genuine worry for a lot of people out there. Jacob Zuma who now looks set to take up the presidency is an unknown quantity in a lot of regards, however he has been in court on a few serious charges, all of which he has so far managed to avoid. He is also a man of the people enjoying a lot of support from trade unions and working class voters. What does this mean though, for South Africa as a country and more specifically for your plans to travel there?

South Africa has been through a lot in the last 14 or so years since our first democratic elections and the birth of what is now known as the rainbow nation. It certainly has had its problems and continues to do so, but what has remained strong, is its democracy and freedoms. Basic rights such as freedom of speech have not been in existence in Zimbabwe and many other African examples where things have gone horribly wrong. The truth in South Africa is that Mbeki has not been performing and he has not delivered what he promised. This has led to the democratic process of the people of the country showing their support to someone else and the result is a new leader. What we don't know is how this new leader is going to perform in the years to come and what affect he is going to have on the rainbow nation, but what you can be sure of is that we are a long long way from coming anywhere close to a situation such as the one in Zimbabwe, and if we do, we have our democracy and the will of the people to force change. Recent events show that democracy is alive and well in South Africa and it is still one of the most beautiful, interesting and diverse places you could visit. So don't waste anymore time..get there immediately and soak up the atmosphere of a healthy country!

Vince

Vince