There is a very strong possibilty that the events of this week in South Africa could produce a whole new generation of Afro-pessimists and possibly lead to an increase in the emmigration rate over the next ten years if things don’t get better.
Afro-pessimists are people who, as the name suggests, are pessimistic about Africa in every way. Afro-pessimists are generally the first to pack up their bags and leave the country for supposed “greener pastures” in the UK, New Zealand or Australia, or are the people who begrudgingly stay in the country because they are making too much money to leave.
South Africa is falling apart
From the alleged racist shooting in Skielik, to the eight straight days of power cuts by state-owned power utility, Eskom, and mounting septisism about the country’s leaders’ ability to make decisions and lead the country effectively, it’s easy to see how the population can become disillusioned very quickly.
We have our defence minister arrested for exceeding the speed limit of 120km/h on the highway – doing 189km/h, the national police commisioner arrested for alleged corruption, and the almost-certain future president of the country up on charges of corruption.
Add rising fuel prices, sharp growth in interest rates, ever-increasing inflation rates, shortages of everyday items like petrol, milk, headache tablets, beer, carbinated drinks and an economy that’s not showing the same levels of growth as a few years ago – it’s recipe for growing negative sentiment.
It’s sad because there are many people doing a lot of good things in this country and, despite their best efforts, there are a handful of people and institutions that managed to mess things up on a grand scale for the rest of us.
And I, for one, am one of those people who chooses to be positive about SA. But this cocktail of challenges makes it difficult to maintain a positive opinion and it wears your tolerance down after a while.
There’s no quick solution to this problem that we have in SA. Like any “new” democracy, we’re going to have teething problems but how much are people willing to put up with? How much is it going to take before people begin leaving the country or, even worse, taking things into their own hands.
Many people will choose to remain positive, but there will be an increase in the global Afro-pessimist population and there will be further justification to those people who left over the last thirteen years as to why they left in the first place.
