IT IS NOW nearly two years since the African National Congress won an overwhelming 58 per cent of the polls in South Africa's first "democratic" elections. How has it performed?
From the beginning Nelson Mandela made reconciliation with the former dominant white minority his prime Recently Jon Quelane the editorial director of Penta publications expressed his misgivings in an assertive article. Reconciliation, he writes, is getting bogged down in sham and appeasement-"appeasement leads to capitulation".
The whites are behaving as if they had won thee election "they carry on as if they are still in power, calling all the shots and riding roughshod over the rest with their arrogance and ridiculous pontifications..the ANC's almost obsequious devotion to their every whinge gives the impression that white people are the greatest thing that ever happened to this country".
What happened at a state school in Potgietersrust is an example of this process.
A group of white racists blockaded the school to prevent the entry of black pupils. They were not racists, they claimed, they just wanted to preserve educational standards. This was in direct defiance of the constitution.
What did the government do? Nothing.
Hundreds of thousands of whites, having seen no difference made to their material privileges by the abolition of apartheid are pressing for more and more. And they are getting it.
K. Govindan
KABUL RESIDENTS have taken to the streets in recent weeks demanding a halt to the International Viewpoint is the The deal is done — Mandela wins the elections, the whites run the country "Preaching reconciliation while millions go begging for food is simply not good enough" says Quayage.
Millions of blacks are still living in the primitive shacks they occupied under apartheid. They are still waiting for the houses and the fuel and clean water promised in the now forgotten Freedom Charter. air, and artillery attacks on the Afghan capital by the anti-government Taliban forces.
These self-proclaimed theological scholars are the most recent players Shacks are still being bulldozed just as they were in the good old days, leaving thousands of families homeless Unemployment is endemic.
Why has the ANC been unable to deliver?
First of all, because it is hamstrung by the power sharing deal which preto enter an arena already overcrowded with militia based on ethnic and denominational loyalties.
But they came with bursts of gunfire rather than incantations from the Quran-significant considering their avowed mission to disarm other groups and end the civil war.
The latest round of fighting arises from Taliban frustration at the slow pace of transferring power from the ceded the elections and the veto which allows a third of the parliament to block any piece of legislation.
This deal was, of course, monitored by South African and international capital.
And there's the rub The people have the vote but finance capital still dominates the economy. Imperialism still holds the country in thrall.
The evils inherited from apartheid will not be finally overcome until the people of South Africa, under the leadership of the working class overthrows capitalism and take the road toward