South Africa... our deteriorating beloved country

I have been observing South Africa, my dear country of birth, from afar over the last 8 months and sadly my hopes for a positive future is dwindling.

I love South Africa. I was born and bred in Johannesburg and have always been proud to South African. However, with the recent events, I begin to question South Africa's future.

South Africa's reputation deteriorating

- South Africa was on the cover of The Economist with the title 'Sad South Africa: Cry, the beloved country'  http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21564846-south-africa-sliding-downhill-while-much-rest-continent-clawing-its-way-up

- Today, Oscar made the front page of The Times with the title 'Pistorious and South Africa's Culture of Violence' http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21564846-south-africa-sliding-downhill-while-much-rest-continent-clawing-its-way-up

- At the course on the Government & Politics of China which I audited at Harvard last Fall, South Africa had been mentioned in two lectures. The first was the fact that South Africa has the highest murder per capita rate in the world and secondly that South Africa has the highest GINI coefficient. Not good things to be known for.

- The view of Africa in general is one of corruption - this is sad but true. We have watched a couple of movies lately where South African's were potrayed as the 'bad guys'.

- The weakening of the SA rand is evidence of decreasing international confidence.

Increasing unrest

- The mining protests have gotten out of control, many have died in the process. Were the police right in shooting the people? Was it really self-defense. The unhappiness continues and now many will lose their jobs. I completely understand why the miners are unhappy, they are been underpaid for doing such a risky job. The mining companies are responsible and need to find a solution else the problems will just escalate. Sure, other miners will want an increase if one company does so but companies shouldn't have been exploiting their workers in the first place.

- Increasing number of strikes is negative for the economy

- The increase in petrol prices, introduction of the e-toll, increase in electricity, etc. only will frustrate struggling workers.

Corruption

- Oscar Pistorious case where the chief investigator has 7 cases of attempted murder against him. Also we saw how incompetant the police were as they unknowingly contaminated the crime scene by not wearing plastic foot coverings and didn't find the fourth bullet shell. People overseas are laughing at our justice system.

- There was a recent tremor in JHB, thousands of people commented via social media but no official reports have been made explaining what actually happened. It seems to be mine-related. Apparently, mines are meant to be filled up once they are closed (called back-fill) however many mines have not been filled and as a result water has eroded the support structures and have collapsed. How many other unfilled mines are there and who is going to be held responsible?

Horrible violence

- The recent video showing a taxi driver being dragged by a police car while some watched was shocking. The police killed this man.
If we cannot even trust the police, who can we trust?

- The recent rape and mutilation of 17 year old Anene Booysen.

- I continue to hear of horrific robberies, murders, rapes, etc. This is inhumane, how can a human do such horrific acts to another person?

Hopelessness

- The worst thing is that there seems to be no hope for South Africa. A year ago I still had some hope that perhaps one day things would get better. But alas the little hope that I had is fading.

- I admit that we are still suffering from the effects of apartheid but things are deteriorating at an alarming rate. Ultimately, the government is responsible for the country but I don't see how they are going to fix our deteriorating beloved country. With the highest murder rate per capita and highest GINI coefficient, the problems will only continue. As long as the current government is in charge I see very little hope that things will improve. We need significant change.