Just when I thought that I, as an erstwhile Sea-Warrior, would perhaps not be fortunate to visit the Cape of Good Hope,my wife and I were presented with an opportunity to visit South Africa. 'God's Own Country' is a terminology used by the State of Kerala to attract tourists in India.South Africa is truly pampered and blessed by mother nature. 'A tapestry of intricate waterscapes in myriad forms; a palette of rainbow hues-a symphony of wind kissed mountains...' that is how Kerala is described. South Africa has it all and due to its location in the Southern hemisphere she is blessed with heavenly weather.
Let me go beyond tourism and record my observations on common challenges that the Republic of South Africa(RSA) and India face.
Soon after arrival,the state of good infrastructure would surprise most of us. World class roads,ports and airports. We in India have caught up with airports but not with roads and ports.
Delhi,Mumbai,Bengaluru and Hyderabad would make us all proud in so far as airports are concerned. Our guide was quick to point out that the roads we traversed were typically tourist circuits and that pot holed roads do exist in the interior parts. He had little idea about what size of pot holed roads we drive on. Often, during and after monsoons even our Metro cities look like the surface of the moon. Not potholes but craters.
I dug a little deeper. Are these the efforts of post apartheid regimes? Not really,I was informed that most of the basic structures and plans were implemented during the pre apartheid era and that since 1994 they have merely resurfaced and expanded on the foundation left behind. The White regime had made good use of the the natural resources of the country to up grade and induct modern facilities that existed in the West.This includes a nuclear power plant in existence for over three decades.That they were also nuclear weapon capable, until they agreed to destroy their holdings is a point to note.
Given that much like our cast- system, they now have Blacks,Whites,coloured,Asians and Indians and that the Whites have been relegated to third or the fourth lowest category of citizens, the challenges are as many as we face . For instance, meritocracy is no longer the sole criteria for success. Quotas and mandatory reservations have been institutionalised to protect the long suppressed Black citizens. Many qualified Whites have migrated to Australia, New Zealand, UK,Europe and USA. Many more are on their way out. Transborder migrations of hordes of illegal migrants from other parts of the continent, have created their own unique socio-economic challenges which are transgressing into the Socio-Political space.
RSA needs a large workforce to execute their modernisation plans. The 55 Million South African are not enough to man the blue and white collared segments of skilled and semi skilled manpower. Although illegal immigrants are a threat to law and order,RSA cannot do without them. RSA being the most prosperous African nation,it is seen as a land of opportunities. There is a large section of Black indigenous BPL community which is moving into the middle class segment. Cheap labour force of immigrants is filling the vacuum. Predictably,within a short period the immigrants have started to demand rights for housing and other privileges extended to the poor people of South Africa. In the absence of employment opportunities, crime and drug trafficking have become the quick fix solution for income generation.
In India too, we have faced large scale migration from Bangladesh and within our own States, the workforce at large, has perforce migrated from the less affluent States . Corruption and misgovernance have afflicted the progress of RSA as much as they have in India.The common man has the same aspirations of our' mango-man'. Better Governance and elimination of corruption.
Decreasing emphasis on meritocracy have led to repercussions which cannot be easily quantified. While very little confidence is reposed in their President, coloured and White citizens are often critical of the incompetence of their elected representatives.
However, I witnessed two international debates with Ministers of the recently formed Govt. One on Energy Policy for RSA and the other on Education. This is the new breed of educated Black women in power. Both impressed me with their homework, knowledge of the subject,which included renewable and nuclear energy and their ability to articulate their thoughts without even a sheet of paper to read from. Cogent,cohesive and pithy- they outshine some of our incompetent and ill prepared Ministers who read scripted material and that too, rather badly.
The English language has survived well during the whole process of rather peaceful transition to the Black- led leadership. Despite competing with Afrikaans and other officially recognised Tribal languages,English language skills have not diminished as in India. From a man on the street to a low paid employee, they appear to possess remarkable and grammatically correct communication skills. In the Globalised environment they stand out as a competent global partner.
A word on management of traffic. The discipline on the roads and strict adherence to traffic laws in all provinces, came as a surprise to us. The laws are same as we have, but the implementation is their secret of success. Excellent electronic surveillance facilities and an upto date data- bank along with real time integration with all the provinces of RSA, permits immediate detection of traffic offence followed by quick communication of penalties to the offender.The only untraced offenders are those who own cars driven across the border. Most toll roads provide RFID based tracking for smooth flow of traffic without any loss of revenue.We have smart cards which cannot be read by a traffic cop nor are we integrated with real time data flow. Enforcing even helmets for two wheelers continues to be a political debate in India. Paradoxically, we are the IT leaders of the world.
If there are two observations of import based on sights at Johannesburg, they are, the creation of a Mahatma Gandhi square at the heart of the city with a statue of the young Gandhi, which was dedicated as recently as in 2003: and the second, large multi storeyed buildings in the commercial heart of the city lying vacant for decades, consequent to the ouster of prosperous White business men. There are no coloured, black or others who have the capital to move into these impressive commercial structures. A sight unimaginable in most other financial capitals of a country.That tells a story about the future-perhaps.
Lastly, having discovered the freedom of a democracy, long suppressed miners struck work for five months. As is evident during the drive to Sun City, they continue to live in abysmal conditions. It is the turn of Industrial workers now. Twenty years of freedom have gone past.
Like us,they too are discovering that,"Free people are not equal(in income) and equal people are not free."
Let me go beyond tourism and record my observations on common challenges that the Republic of South Africa(RSA) and India face.
Soon after arrival,the state of good infrastructure would surprise most of us. World class roads,ports and airports. We in India have caught up with airports but not with roads and ports.
Delhi,Mumbai,Bengaluru and Hyderabad would make us all proud in so far as airports are concerned. Our guide was quick to point out that the roads we traversed were typically tourist circuits and that pot holed roads do exist in the interior parts. He had little idea about what size of pot holed roads we drive on. Often, during and after monsoons even our Metro cities look like the surface of the moon. Not potholes but craters.
I dug a little deeper. Are these the efforts of post apartheid regimes? Not really,I was informed that most of the basic structures and plans were implemented during the pre apartheid era and that since 1994 they have merely resurfaced and expanded on the foundation left behind. The White regime had made good use of the the natural resources of the country to up grade and induct modern facilities that existed in the West.This includes a nuclear power plant in existence for over three decades.That they were also nuclear weapon capable, until they agreed to destroy their holdings is a point to note.
Given that much like our cast- system, they now have Blacks,Whites,coloured,Asians and Indians and that the Whites have been relegated to third or the fourth lowest category of citizens, the challenges are as many as we face . For instance, meritocracy is no longer the sole criteria for success. Quotas and mandatory reservations have been institutionalised to protect the long suppressed Black citizens. Many qualified Whites have migrated to Australia, New Zealand, UK,Europe and USA. Many more are on their way out. Transborder migrations of hordes of illegal migrants from other parts of the continent, have created their own unique socio-economic challenges which are transgressing into the Socio-Political space.
RSA needs a large workforce to execute their modernisation plans. The 55 Million South African are not enough to man the blue and white collared segments of skilled and semi skilled manpower. Although illegal immigrants are a threat to law and order,RSA cannot do without them. RSA being the most prosperous African nation,it is seen as a land of opportunities. There is a large section of Black indigenous BPL community which is moving into the middle class segment. Cheap labour force of immigrants is filling the vacuum. Predictably,within a short period the immigrants have started to demand rights for housing and other privileges extended to the poor people of South Africa. In the absence of employment opportunities, crime and drug trafficking have become the quick fix solution for income generation.
In India too, we have faced large scale migration from Bangladesh and within our own States, the workforce at large, has perforce migrated from the less affluent States . Corruption and misgovernance have afflicted the progress of RSA as much as they have in India.The common man has the same aspirations of our' mango-man'. Better Governance and elimination of corruption.
Decreasing emphasis on meritocracy have led to repercussions which cannot be easily quantified. While very little confidence is reposed in their President, coloured and White citizens are often critical of the incompetence of their elected representatives.
However, I witnessed two international debates with Ministers of the recently formed Govt. One on Energy Policy for RSA and the other on Education. This is the new breed of educated Black women in power. Both impressed me with their homework, knowledge of the subject,which included renewable and nuclear energy and their ability to articulate their thoughts without even a sheet of paper to read from. Cogent,cohesive and pithy- they outshine some of our incompetent and ill prepared Ministers who read scripted material and that too, rather badly.
The English language has survived well during the whole process of rather peaceful transition to the Black- led leadership. Despite competing with Afrikaans and other officially recognised Tribal languages,English language skills have not diminished as in India. From a man on the street to a low paid employee, they appear to possess remarkable and grammatically correct communication skills. In the Globalised environment they stand out as a competent global partner.
A word on management of traffic. The discipline on the roads and strict adherence to traffic laws in all provinces, came as a surprise to us. The laws are same as we have, but the implementation is their secret of success. Excellent electronic surveillance facilities and an upto date data- bank along with real time integration with all the provinces of RSA, permits immediate detection of traffic offence followed by quick communication of penalties to the offender.The only untraced offenders are those who own cars driven across the border. Most toll roads provide RFID based tracking for smooth flow of traffic without any loss of revenue.We have smart cards which cannot be read by a traffic cop nor are we integrated with real time data flow. Enforcing even helmets for two wheelers continues to be a political debate in India. Paradoxically, we are the IT leaders of the world.
If there are two observations of import based on sights at Johannesburg, they are, the creation of a Mahatma Gandhi square at the heart of the city with a statue of the young Gandhi, which was dedicated as recently as in 2003: and the second, large multi storeyed buildings in the commercial heart of the city lying vacant for decades, consequent to the ouster of prosperous White business men. There are no coloured, black or others who have the capital to move into these impressive commercial structures. A sight unimaginable in most other financial capitals of a country.That tells a story about the future-perhaps.
Lastly, having discovered the freedom of a democracy, long suppressed miners struck work for five months. As is evident during the drive to Sun City, they continue to live in abysmal conditions. It is the turn of Industrial workers now. Twenty years of freedom have gone past.
Like us,they too are discovering that,"Free people are not equal(in income) and equal people are not free."
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