By TEE NGUGI

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For decades, the African National Congress’s vision of a free, democratic, equitable and non-racial democracy rallied the world against the white supremacist government.

In 1994, Nelson Mandela ascended to the presidency, a feat which, a few years earlier, seemed impossible. Mandela himself understood that nothing was impossible. He could see, even from his tiny cell on Robben Island, the inevitability of a democratic revolution in South Africa.

Those of us old enough will remember following his swearing-in on TV, and hearing him proclaim to the world, “Never, never, and never again shall this beautiful land experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world.”
Those were hopeful days, not only for South Africa, but also for Africa as a whole.

Decades of oppression and exploitation by one thieving dictator after another had brought the continent to the point of despair. We saw ourselves, to use Thabo Mbeki’s phrase, “reflected in Mandela’s glory.” We felt the stirrings of the hope we had felt at the dawn of our own independence in the 1960s, when we felt ready to conquer the world.

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We realised, quickly though, that those who had taken power had no such grandiose visions. They were driven by the more mundane aspirations of accumulating as much wealth and power as was possible. They built fabulous palaces and acquired prime estates in Europe.

They named every street and building after themselves. National days became a celebration of themselves.

As Professor George Ayittey writes, “The independence leaders heaped vainglorious epithets upon themselves: Osagyefo, the Guide, the Messiah, the Redeemer, the Teacher.”

As these leaders went about what Ali Mazrui calls “deification” and “royalisation,” their countries gradually began to fall apart. Corruption mushroomed. Roads, hospitals and schools remained inadequate or poorly equipped. Police brutality increased. Civil service became a mockery of its name. Crime became endemic.

American civil rights leader Jesse Jackson had proclaimed that Nelson Mandela’s life provided a paradigm for African renewal. We agreed with him. But now, reports are showing that South Africa has failed to re-engineer itself on the paradigm of Mandela’s life.

As a matter of fact, the country now wallows in the filth of crippling corruption. Its leadership since Mandela offers no inspiring vision; it just goes through the motions of governing.

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There are power blackouts and water shortages. Then there is the crime rate that has paralysed life. Rape is endemic. Between April 2022 and March 2023, there were more than 27,000 murders. That is about 80 people killed every day.

South Africa has, rightly or wrongly, accused Israel of committing genocide in its war in Gaza, after 30,000 civilians were killed. It is mind-boggling that equal numbers of people have been killed in Gaza and South Africa within a similar length of time. In Gaza, a war rages. There is no war in South Africa. Those are the facts. Draw your own inference.

Tee Ngugi is a Nairobi-based political commentator