re: What happened to South Africa?

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I only hear negatives about it and I’m sure it’s mostly true, but some family of mine just went and spent 10 days there and stayed in two different places and they love it. Two of them honeymooned there 10 years ago.

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And Conan Obrien loved his stay in Haiti too

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I still can’t detect a trend and put this together. The highlighted countries are prosperous despite being colonized.

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Extraction versus parliamentary style governance.

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Do you honestly not know the answer to that?

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This is the answer. I started working down there in the early 2000s.

It was still awesome- but the BS from Zim had started to bleed down to SA.

I haven’t been in about 15 years- but I understand that the Durban I loved is nearly unrecognizable now.

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What happened to South Africa?

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Political and cultural suicide by offering themselves up on the altar of good intentions.

They aren’t that far ahead of several European countries that are following them down the same path to disaster.

According to Grok AI;

South Africa faces deep, longstanding challenges that have led many observers to describe it as “failing” or in prolonged crisis, particularly in economic and governance terms. While the country is not on the verge of total collapse, it has experienced stagnation, high inequality, and institutional decay over the past 15+ years. Here’s a breakdown of the main reasons, based on recent analyses from sources like the IMF, World Bank, OECD, and local reports.
Economic Stagnation and Low Growth
South Africa’s economy has grown anemically for over a decade, averaging around 0.7% annually in recent years—far below population growth and peer emerging economies. Real GDP per capita remains below 2007 levels in many assessments.
• Chronic low growth: GDP expanded by just 0.6–0.7% in 2023–2024, with projections for 2025 around 1–1.3% (IMF and World Bank estimates). This leaves the economy trapped in a low-growth rut, unable to generate enough jobs or reduce poverty.
• Energy crisis (load-shedding): Mismanagement, corruption, and underinvestment at state-owned Eskom caused severe rolling blackouts, shaving an estimated 1–2% off GDP annually at peak. While improvements occurred in 2025 (with extended periods without load-shedding due to private generation and better management), the system remains fragile, with occasional outages returning.
• Infrastructure and logistics decay: Ports, rail (Transnet), and other systems suffer from neglect, theft, and inefficiency, hampering exports and investment. Investment as a share of GDP is only ~14.5%, too low to renew infrastructure.
Extremely High Unemployment and Inequality
South Africa has one of the world’s highest unemployment rates.
• Official unemployment hovered around 32–33% in 2025, with youth rates exceeding 50–60%. This stems from deindustrialization, skills mismatches (e.g., 42% of workers lack secondary education), apartheid’s spatial legacy (people far from jobs), and slow job creation.
• Extreme inequality (among the world’s highest) and poverty affect over two-thirds of the population, fueling social tensions, crime, and unrest.
Corruption and State Capture Legacy
Widespread corruption, especially under former President Jacob Zuma’s era (state capture), drained billions and hollowed out institutions like Eskom and Transnet.
• The State Capture Commission documented systemic graft costing an estimated $26 billion (2009–2018 alone). Slow prosecutions and ongoing inefficiencies persist.
• Misallocated spending, bloated public wages, and inefficient state-owned enterprises have strained finances, leading to rising debt and fiscal pressures (e.g., budget impasses in early 2025).
Political and Governance Challenges
The African National Congress (ANC) dominated post-apartheid but lost its majority in 2024 elections due to disillusionment over corruption, mismanagement, and service delivery failures.
• The Government of National Unity (GNU)—a 10-party coalition formed in mid-2024—brought initial optimism, market confidence (stronger rand, lower borrowing costs), and progress like reduced load-shedding and fiscal stabilization.
• However, the GNU faced early tests: budget deadlocks in 2025 (first in 30 years of democracy), ideological rifts (e.g., on health policy, foreign affairs), and fragile stability ahead of 2026 local elections.
• While some reforms advanced (e.g., energy liberalization, Operation Vulindlela), critics argue structural changes lag, with growth still subdued and public trust low.
Other Contributing Factors
• Crime and social issues: High crime rates, xenophobia, and informal settlement crises (millions lack basic services) exacerbate instability.
• Global pressures: Trade uncertainties (e.g., US tariffs), commodity dependence, and slow global growth add headwinds.
• Education and skills gaps: Persistent mismatches limit productivity and labor-intensive growth.
In summary, South Africa’s struggles stem from a toxic mix of inherited inequalities, post-1994 policy failures (especially corruption and state-owned enterprise mismanagement), infrastructure collapse, and insufficient reforms to unleash private-sector-led growth. The GNU offers a potential turning point—some positive shifts occurred in 2025, like better energy reliability and modest job gains—but deep structural fixes (labor market, education, governance) are needed for sustained progress. Many analysts see it as a “tipping point” between continued stagnation and gradual recovery, with outcomes hinging on coalition cohesion and bolder implementation.

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Is there anywhere to go in SA that’s still safe to foreigners currently? I hear carjacking is almost an inevitability there if you’re white.

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I quit going when one of my best friends got his face shot off over a Toyota Hilux.

Camera showed it (it happened at his house)- he was giving them
the damn truck. They still blew his brains out.

I’m sure there are good places still. But it’s just sad all around.

I could write a whole new thread and post a new story a day about someone I knew, or a person they knew who was killed or assaulted over some stupid car. Or they were coming to get your land.

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I quit going when one of my best friends got his face shot off over a Toyota Hilux. Camera showed it (it happened at his house)- he was giving them the damn truck. They still blew his brains out. I’m sure there are good places still. But it’s just sad all around. I could write a whole new thread and post a new story a day about someone I knew, or a person they knew who was killed or assaulted over some stupid car. Or they were coming to get your land.

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shite. And no one even talks about it in the news/media. Trump brought it up about a year ago and he’s trying to import a lot of at risk South Africans—wonder how that’s going.

Clearly they didn't walk around Cape Town at night or you would be posting about family members murdered there.

Like anywhere..... it all depends on when you go and what time.