South Africa

Introduction

The African National Congress and the booze industry are looking down on Mandela’s rainbow baby, beaten and battling to breathe. They arrange themselves for a photo-shoot, and then mutter to the press, “it’s sad, very sad. But hang on, is she as bad as the kids over the road?”  

“I became aware at an early stage that whites felt superior to us. And I could see how shabby my father looked in comparison to the white teachers.

In February 2018, Emil Boss, a former employee at Swedish retailer Systembolaget, visited South African vineyard Leeuwenkuil and Middelburg, one of the farms that supply the grapes to Leeuwenkuil, who in turn sell wine to Systembolaget.

This past weekend I went to watch Black Panther with my family.

In democratic South Africa there is neither democracy nor justice when it comes to narrating critical historical events and moments. There is rather a subtle consistent perpetuation of particular memories as less or more valuable and significant than others.

Earlier this month, the South African parliament voted for a motion to amend the constitution that will allow the government to expropriate private land (largely in the hands of white South Africans) without compensation.

The security of land tenure of black South Africans remains largely unaddressed since 1994 with insufficient progress on land restitution and redistribution of less than a third of the target 26 million hectares in 24 years since democracy.

President Jacob Zuma resigned from office on 14 February 2018. This was the consequence of rule riddled with accusations of corruption and “state capture” orchestrated with the Guptas.

There was a time Big Business thought the Zuma factor was just what they needed and the Rand-Dollar traded in the 8.50 – 6.70 band. Then in January 2016, they decided Zuma was bad for business, warning shots were fired, the Rand fell almost to 17.