Best thing I've ever read on South Africa

It's not comprehensive, but a truly amazing look at the rot that has taken root in Mzanzi's poorest slums. It focuses on the random mob murder of a Zimbabwean immigrant named Farai. I liked this graf in particular:

At age 17, the Republic of South Africa is still young enough to be appreciated as a marvel. The “skunk of the world,” as Nelson Mandela called the apartheid state, has been peacefully transformed into a constitutional democracy. There are disappointments, without question. The optimism of the early years — the glorious idea that South Africa would be an inspiration of enlightened leadership — has long faded. The frail, 92-year-old Mandela may remain the most beloved and respected man on the planet, but during its years in power, the organization he championed, the African National Congress, has become, in the words of the historian Martin Meredith, “just another grubby political party on the make.”

Check it out.

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Ryan Cooper

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