Observations of South Africa

Here are a few general observations from my first time visiting this country.

Today is Freedom Day, the 12th Anniversary of the official end of apartheid. This is still an incredibly segregated society, and it is segregated in nearly every meaningful way: geographic, economic, education, dress, accent, and language. Of course, segregation is not an official policy, but the inertia from apartheid is very strong.

A white woman in Cape Town (who works at a Pop Council-sponsored clinic) told me she is very concerned over the crime rates here. I looked the statistics, and it is sobering: while murders have been stable over the past decade (even slightly down), assaults, rapes, and robberies have increased significantly. Interestingly, attempted murder is up, even as murder is a bit down. Some people here are skeptical about the quality of the statistical reporting, so this may explain some of this.

While there is strong criticism of the government, including the president and health minister, from many quarters, there is near-universal praise for the finance operation here. The economy is growing, and expanding at a very productive pace (4.5% in 2005). They manage their inflation rate here, which some credit with keeping a fairly stable growth rate. This growth rate is astonishing, in my view, when South Africa has a 50% unemployment rate and over 20% of its population infected with HIV.

My next post: my trip to Soweto.