Barkey, An interesting point that you raise. I have been following the political situation in South Africa for some time, and find the debate pretty heated. One reason is the statements made by Julius Malema.
The Johannesburg Equality Court on Monday found ANC Youth League president Julius Malema guilty of hate speech and harassment. (quote from South African website News24). His kill the boer (farmer) song did not go down well! The Same Julius Malema is pushing for nationalisation of the country's mines, but I understand that details are not clear. The country already has an initiative (BEE or Black Economic Empowerment) to redress the inequalities of the apartheid era. Many don't believe that nationalisation of the mines is the answer for the well know reasons (mining is a high risk capital intensive industry that needs private investors with the stomach to take risks.) Jacob Zuma, South Africa's president has stated that nationalisation of the mines is not ANC (ruling party) policy.
Who knows how this play out in the future? I would hope that a sensible compromise is reached to protect the mining industry (vital to the good of all in the country) and at the same time is seen by the majority as fair to all.
Botswana has reached a good working relationship with mining companies while ensuring that its citizens share in the wealth of its natural resources. I'm banking on South Africa doing the same, but do worry about the likes of Julius Malema.
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