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#Turmoil in south africa update
It's always a pleasure.ĬHIDEYA: Charlayne Hunter-Gault is NPR special Africa correspondent and Africa Update is a regular feature on NEWS & NOTES.Ĭopyright © 2007 NPR. Most people do think, however, that even though it's a young democracy, there are institutions in place that will see it through this time of turmoil.ĬHIDEYA: Well, Charlayne, we will definitely stay tuned until the ANC makes its decision in December of this year. So these things are going to play out even as the debate between the Zuma people and the Mbeki people continues. HUNTER-GAULT: And there are lots of other issues on the table now, you know, the vast discrepancy between the haves and the have-nots, economic policy that has benefited a few people here in South Africa but not the vast majority. So of necessity, all the things that held the ANC together, the single mindedness of its original caucus, those have been achieved. SKELLY OLIGETY (Journalist): I think it's more a sign of a healthy democracy than anything else. And one of those is an analyst, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Skelly Oligety(ph) and here's what he had to say. Now there are those, however, who say that this is just a sign of a young democracy moving into becoming a mature democracy. The last time there were Inkatha-Zulu clashes was in the run up to the '94 election when thousands of people were murdered, injured, maimed, all kinds of violence, and nobody wants to see this young Democratic country go back to that. I mean there are many Inkatha's in the government, including Mbeki. And then there has been an ethnic factor added. And so the tensions now are between these two people in a sense because the Mbeki wing of the party does not want Zuma to succeed him. HUNTER-GAULT: The problem now is that the deputy president who would normally step in to the presidency has been through many crises, not least rape charges which he was acquitted of, corruption charges which he is now facing. Tell us what that is and why it's causing some fissures in the body politic. And though has been the ruling party in South Africa since the end of apartheid, the celebration comes at a time when it's facing a tough challenge, you know, the issue is something called WHAM 2. The ruling African National Congress just celebrated its 95th year - that's not 95 years of ruling but 95 years of existing - making it the oldest liberation movement on the continent. But clearly this is truth of just how desperate things have become.ĬHIDEYA: Well, let's turn to the nation where you spend a lot of your time, South Africa. He's invited them back, only a handful have answered that call. HUNTER-GAULT: Well, he has kicked out most of them, and in addition to which, hundreds of thousands of black workers who worked on those farms also lost their jobs. And there is the expectation that there will be more and more protests.ĬHIDEYA: Well, Charlayne, the president, Robert Mugabe, hasn't he tried to rebuild the agriculture sector after he essentially kicked out many of the white agribusiness farmers? But I think you'd get a strong argument for most economic analysts and of course the political analysts blamed all of this on the government, which is why they continue to strike as the country goes deeper into poverty. That this is government sabotage by the West, particularly Great Britain which he still regards as the archenemy. Now, President Mugabe says that this is not mismanagement. What's causing it is the inflation, of course, is leading to wildcat strikes and things like that. So you can imagine what's happening to the poor people. The doctors are on strike because they're not getting enough pay. The public hospitals in Zimbabwe are just jammed to the seams. The lines are very long for people are trying to get buses, I'm told. I mean gasoline is beyond the capacity of most people to pay. That means price raises in basic things like rent, bread, fuel. HUNTER-GAULT: Well, let's first of all talk about what happened in December, because the inflation increased to 1,281 percent, which is the highest in the world. Still a nation running against strong negative winds, huge inflation. Hey, Charlayne.ĬHIDEYA: So let's talk a little bit about Zimbabwe. It's time now for our regular Africa Update with NPR Special Africa correspondent Charlayne Hunter-Gault. I'm Farai Chideya and this is NEWS & NOTES.