Charges of corruption, cronyism and nepotism against President Jacob Zuma have put the government on the back foot in a country already reeling under high levels of economic inequality and unemployment.
President Jacob Zuma is under enormous political pressure, both from within his party and from the opposition, on an array of issues. His handling of the economy has been particularly under the scanner. Plummeting commodity prices have hit the South African economy hard, which is heavily dependent on mineral exports. The mining sector, dominated by big conglomerates, accounts for 35 percent of the country’s exports. It is the second largest economic sector after agriculture. Since the end of the last year, the value of the South African currency, the rand, has been steadily falling. Concurrently, inflation has been rising. South Africa has one of the highest levels of economic inequality in the world and an unemployment rate of around 25 per cent. Unemployment is higher today than it was during the apartheid regime.
South Africans blame corruption and cronyism for the problems they are facing today. A recent opinion poll revealed that 83 per cent of the people believed that corruption was on the rise in South Africa. There have been quite a few instances of high-level corruption. The head of the South African railways was caught using company funds for taking luxury holidays with female friends. The company’s chief engineer was found to have a fake degree. The railways spent $200 million importing carriages from Spain which were not suited for the country’s railway tracks. There was a lot of documented corruption during the 2010 football World Cup hosted by South Africa. Companies illegally overcharged more than $5 billion for construction contracts relating to the world cup.
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How Not To Handle An Epidemic
The lockdowns were meant to buy time to put in place appropriate health measures and contain the coronavirus’ spread, but they have failed to achieve the objective and heaped immense misery on the marginalised sections of society. India is still in the exponential phase of the COVID-19 infection and community transmission is a reality that the government refuses to accept.
Tragedy on foot
As the COVID-19-induced lockdown cuts the ground beneath their feet in Tamil Nadu, thousands of migrant workers are trudging along the highway to the relative safety of their upcountry homes.
Sarpanchs as game changers
Odisha manages to keep COVID-19 well under control because of the strong participation of panchayati raj institutions and the community at the grass-roots level under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Scapegoating China
As the COVID-19 death rate spikes and the economy tanks in the United States, Donald Trump and his advisers target China and the World Health Organisation with an eye to winning the forthcoming presidential election.
New worries
Kerala’s measured approach to the pandemic and lockdown has yielded results. But it still has to grapple with their huge economic impact on its economy, which it feels the Centre’s special financial relief package does little to alleviate.
No love lost for labour
Taking advantage of the lockdown and the inability of workers to organise protests, many State governments introduce sweeping changes to labour laws to the detriment of workers on the pretext of reviving production and boosting the economy.
Capital's Malthusian moment
In a world that needs substantial reorienting of production and distribution, Indian capital is resorting to a militant form of moribund neoliberalism to overcome its current crisis. In this pursuit of profit, it is ready and willing to throw into mortal peril millions whom it adjudicates as not worth their means—an admixture of social Darwinism born of capital’s avarice and brutalism spawned by Hindutva. .
Understanding migration
When governments and their plans are found to be blatantly wanting in addressing reverse migration, exercises such as the Ekta Parishad’s survey of migrant workers throughout India can be useful to work out creative long-lasting solutions.
Waiting for Jabalpur moment
The Supreme Court’s role in ensuring executive accountability during the ongoing lockdown leaves much to be desired. Standing in shining contrast is the record of some High Courts.
An empty package
The Modi regime, which has been unable to control the COVID-19 infection, restore economic activity and provide relief to millions exposed to starvation, trains its sights on Indian democracy, making use of the panic generated by fear and a lockdown that forecloses paths of resistance.
