South Africa’s challenging journey | DW Documentary

South Africa’s democracy is facing a trust crisis with the government that we are having I don’t think it’s going to change they just don’t care extreme poverty has dashed hopes of a better life with immigrants being blamed for many problems we saying no to foreigners everything we fought for it’s in vain we

Understand the this country was supposed to be owned by us Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress has ruled for 30 years but many feel let down by it for us the promise of 94 wasn’t delivered my generation who’s lived as a born free in South Africa has not tasted

Real Freedom so what is the current state of democracy in South Africa the country once seen as a role model for the whole Continent [Applause] a crowd looking for something to change and the new Social Democratic movement Rise um zanzi meaning rise South Africa promises to deliver just that at the Party Conference in Johannesburg its leader journalist and writer seso zbi speaks in front of supporters emphasizing his goal to build a coalition for Democratic

Change there are more unemployed young people today than 20 years ago there are more unemployed graduates today that at any point in South African history nearly half of all children will start school never finish because of poverty hunger stuning drug abuse and other problems next year’s presidential

Elections could Mark a turning point for South Africa for the past three decades thec has held an absolute majority in Parliament but the discontent is growing throughout the country and the party is losing support it’s been a few years since uran mangera left thec it was not

An easy decision he used to be the chairman of the ANC youth movement in his Province his parents were even members of the Freedom Movement and risked their lives during apide in times when thec was classified as a terrorist organization by the racist regime their son now belongs to a new generation the

So-called Born Free they see today’s ANC less as a Liber force and more as a bunch of corrupt leaders holding the country captive and yes we have different rights where we can vote and we have a constitution but the substance of it is missing and I think we need to get down

To the more difficult questions the more complex questions on how we solve for the socioeconomic Gap that exist the issues where crime is is riddling all communities where we’re not able to develop and build schools and inadequate infrastructure especially in Rural and Township communities just a few streets away in

Downtown Johannesburg while rise mzanzi is advocating for long-term political change these people are demanding that something is done immediately they’re not willing to wait until the next election or new [Applause] government the street is ours who Street our street who Street our street street street Nando hamo is out

Demonstrating for safe and affordable housing in Johannesburg she grew up on these streets and has seen the rapid expansion of slums in the city center in recent years the city’s infrastructure is decaying whether it’s the electricity and water Network sewage treatment plants police and fire departments or the waste management everything is in

Crisis Hama works for the inner city Resource Center an association that campaigns for the rights of the city’s poorest people are saying this disit buildings is not because by choice but it’s because of there’s nowhere to go and they want accessibility to come and work closer to Inner City of

Johannesburg almost half of johannesburg’s more than 5 A2 million inhabitants live on less than $100 a month extreme poverty forces many to move into abandoned and dilapidated buildings where living conditions are not just inadequate but also dangerous serious fires keep breaking out like most recently in Marshall Town a

District in the city center 77 people died but instead of improving conditions many in the city and government blame immigrants for the disasters in the wake of the fire they demanded that all unemployed foreigners be expelled from the city center but these demonstrators refuse to be turned into scapegoats

We can safely say the success of the demonstration itself is a demonstration of the overwhelming rejection of the politics of scap Golding of xenophobia so we cannot blame foreigners to be here in this country we should actually blame our government the city of Johannesburg is the one that is

Turning the buildings to be slums by cutting the Services of the water and electricity and so now we say we want the upgrading of the better inner city for all the people living in it thank you but that’s not how everyone sees it and frustration often turns into violence against

Foreigners thousands of people in Johannesburg have been arrested after riots and looting on Monday many of the targeted shops are reported to be owned by Foreign Nationals in recent years anti immigrant sentiments have even been deliberately stirred up by politicians and parties with xenophobic ideology dressed up as

Patriotism the farri operation dudula is doing just that dula means to expel or knock down the organization was founded in 2021 and officially became a political party in early 2023 in their distinctive camouflage uniforms the members make no secret of the fact that they want to enforce their

Demands on the streets with violence if necessary as here in the township of nedi in Soto people are in Shock after the death of two children although the police haven’t been able to determine the cause of death members of operation Dulla claim that Pakistani immigrants the owners of this shop killed the children

By selling them poisoned candy we don’t need anymore we don’t need them anymore let them go we are tired our kids are not working they are selling drugs all over we are tired the Secretary General of operation dudula zandile duula arrives and meets personally with the families of the victims before issuing a

Threat we’re going to be shutting down the spa shops that are owned by nons South Africans especially B my friends your Pakistanian your Bangladesh your ethopians that’s what we’ll be doing as of now how how do you do that how do you shut

Them down so so so we we we we we we we have a petition that was signed by the community of n that they no longer want these PA shops to operate we’ve taken it to the police station the station command has has signed it off so what’s

Going to happen is that the police will need will have to accompany us of course operation Dulla knows full well that the police can’t be going around closing stores on the basis of petitions they have to follow the law but their rhetoric immediately resonates with the Angry Crowd are

Tired come out finally the police arrive to disperse the mob following the populist textbook operation Dulla blames an idol State and claims to be on the side of the people and to many the slogans seem appealing noorder these people they must protect us but they protecting outside people we as

South African by this moment we are not United but we want the Pakistan to leave our country the party is still a long way from a majority and outside of Soo few people have even heard about operation Dulla but its support is steadily growing and with it the violence against foreigners yes

Some of the victims from the Marshall Town Fire have since been relocated to a piece of land on the outskirts of the City previously owned by the South African Football Association it’s doubtful that the conditions here are any safer than the place they’ve just been evacuated from hamo visits the camp

To check in on the Residents the suffer house got burnt I think it was last year in June it got burnt and then yeah so they couldn’t do anything more so now people are just staying here they’ve already make shs for themselves now the city has informed the people here that they will have to

Leave again they’ve been told to build their huts on an empty plot of land way outside of the city without access to electricity or running water them zuu is one of the survivors of the fire the unemployed mother lost everything in the blaze including her hope for

Change every human being has a right to wear shelter but what happened to us from the fire to the squatter Shelter From The satter Shelter to the streets you know anyway I started I stopped voting two years ago I’m not I’m not going to vote I’m not really going to

Vote and why because the government doesn’t care we don’t even know who to trust because they make promises that they can’t keep so what’s the use they just want to be up there and forget about the people according to a recent study half of South Africans no longer vote siril

Ramapa thec leader and president of South Africa is on the campaign Trail in the town of okoro Leni where he keeps repeating that his party’s successes outweigh any shortcomings on every issue from the mass construction of social housing to free education and healthare but on this day the president isn’t

Willing to answer any questions instead he sends the local ANC leader to Meet the Press thank you and I think we’ve done you know quite a lot on education the has done very well in the health system H generally the infrastructure you know is is is well developed including in the

Township in the poorest places like here there’s supply of electricity there’s FL water flowing s the roads attack but as thec celebrates its successes rise mzanzi denounces the rampant corruption and crime in the country and for the crowd at the rally it has everything to do with the ruling Party and so when people go and vote I think it will be a referendum on thec as the governing party but also a referendum on the politics that we’ve seen over the last 30 years which is this exchange of promises for votes nonetheless and just as it has

Done for the last 30 years thec will in all likelihood once more form the next government but whether it will also manage to regain the trust of South Africans remains to be Seen

The ANC has ruled South Africa for 30 years. The party once stood for the end of apartheid. But many voters want change before the 2024 elections.

Nolutahndo Hassamo has also become disillusioned with the ANC. Most of all, she holds the government responsible for the widespread poverty. In Johannesburg she’s been taking to the streets to demonstrate for safe and affordable housing. Social inequality is also one of the main points of criticism raised by the new social democratic party RISE Mzansi, together with the country’s rising crime rate. Other parties blame foreigners for all of the country’s problems and are calling for deportations. The ANC can still hope to win the upcoming election – but discontent is growing in South Africa. A report by Stefan Möhl.

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24 comments

  1. It's media manipulation. The former oppressors want to convince us that our problems are ANC caused so we can stop blaming them for the vast poverty in the country. But the majority of us still vote ANC eve through they pretend we don't exist.

  4. If you vote for and support the ANC, you are part of the problem…either you:

    1. Benefit from the corruption, nepotism and criminality

    2. Lack the insight due to lack of education due to no fault of your own and are easily misled with emotional social engineering

    Or

    3. You are ignorant and only have want to blame everyone but those that are responsible and ultimately wish more poverty and suffering for your children and theirs….

    …only the 2nd one is understandable.

    But shouldn't these people be the ones protected and not mislead in a democracy, by those given the responsibility to do so… ?

    The sadest part of it all is that those who voted for those in power, the most vulnerable, are the ones suffering even more… and the opportunity that was in place in 1994 to build a country free from massive corruption, uplifting the poor and the previously discriminated against…without a civil war and set an example for the rest of the world after an oppresive minority rule, is lost… and no other country may have that opportunity again, given foundation of mineral, agricultural, industrial and infrastructural wealth was in place 1994 …truly sad and shame on those who continue to fill their pockets at the expense of the very people they were elected to protect, who suffer more and more each day.

    Great documentary. Appreciated. Vote wisely South Africa.

  8. These are what voters have to choose from 1) The African National Congress (ANC): the party of Nelson Mandela which majority black people have an emotional attachment to but is responsible for a failing government and corruption in state enterprises including Eskom that is bringing the country to the brink of electricity black out. Not only is there no accountability because of the guaranteed loyalty and support but also because everyone involved is a beneficiary of the corruption. 2) The Democratic Alliance (DA): the main opposition party that largely represents white voters that is seen by majority black South Africans as a surviving relic of apartheid despite the fact that it has shown to better govern its strong hold of Cape Town and the Western Cape over the collapsing municipalities and provinces governed by the ANC. Voting DA for many black South Africans is unconscionable like asking a person to convert their religion. The DA is content with governing Cape Town and the Western Cape Province and whatever city or urban area it can win. It knows it cannot govern nationally and the rural areas where what are effectively acts of terror, the burning of vehicles and infrastructure will be rampant and wide spread in rejection of its governing control. 3) The Economic Freedom Front (EFF) which was formed as a populist pseudo revolutionary movement by the former leader of the ANC Youth League and powered by the youth that have left the ANC and has garnered 10% of the national vote. Its policy of Radical Economic Transformation for some is the transfer of white wealth to the black majority while for most it is the descent into chaos. 4) And then there are the tens of smaller parties that muster less than 10% of the national vote collectively. As you can tell, this electoral system was designed to keep the ANC in power by locking the majority of black South African in past racial perspective rather than values and relevant present and future issues. All failing democracies are hijacked by political party identity rather than by the power to effect change. South Africa's version of a two party system is the conference held by the ANC to decide which faction takes over the ANC. The national elections is a side show. The slow gradual decline of the ANC percentage is also from ANC voters choosing to not vote all together rather than voting for another party and more smaller parties formed taking 1% or less. Hope that helps you to understand why people in South Africa don't just simply vote the ANC out.

  10. The underlying issue in SA is that a majority of poor black South Africans don't understand that there's a huge difference between foreigners, and illegal immigrants… And it also appears that only black people can be a foreigner or illegal immigrant in that context.

  13. They wanted freedom and equality but they ended up with a corrupt regime, just like the rest of Africa. Only the skin color of the elite changed.

  14. Imagine working towards a university degree while in so much poverty you must continue along with your parents in having to use outdoor toilets. While being a woman during the end of the last century which was not an uncommon experience. In many other places around the world like in India it was the same. For example in Canada when having to use outdoor toilets while hoping to stay warm in your vehicle during very cold weather. In a situation like that having a part time job to be a vaccum cleaner salesmen in warm comfy houses would be a much needed break from impossible situation to be learning in.

  15. Imagine working towards a university degree from South Africa while in so much poverty you must continue along with your parents in having to use outdoor toilets. While being a woman during the end of the last century which was not an uncommon experience. In many other places around the world like in India it was the same. For example next in Canada when having to have previously had to use outdoor toilets while hoping to stay warm in your vehicle during cold weather before previous to doing a start up in that company. In a situation like that previous to that start-up having a part time job to be a vaccum cleaner salesmen in warm comfy houses would be a much needed break from impossible situation to be learning in when not in university classes. People coming from family backgrounds like that are not all that hard to understand. Bringing sandwiches along to work for them to eat too while having to sometimes sleep over night in that office while being homeless too from time to time like after having to call police on someone else not working in that office could be a game changer when being able to understand eh? Everyone has a story. Everyone has a different way of doing things well. I doubt that getting a diamond ring for return which you do not really want as a bonus for hard work would be an adequate compensation for anyone after working there for 5 years at minimum wage while getting along with everyone there just fine. Like that one Indigenous co-worker I worked with there too on that team to be writing ads. – For big oil and mining. Good thing that one grandma whome I never got to meet could do a start-up too making sandwiches eh? So her daughter didn't have to want something more than just a diamond ring as a work bonus eh? Working in a business requires team work and not being compromising when it comes to business ethics.

  22. The new South Africa has been great for Canada. We have been getting a study stream of qualified physicians from South Africa for 30 years. In recent years we are also getting agricultural workers of various types. They have one thing in common they are white. South Africa is losing its capacity in many sectors and will soon be another Uganda or Nigeria .

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