It’s the leaders who have failed SA — and the rest of Africa too

THERE’S been gnashing of teeth in certain quarters because it’s suddenly dawned on all of us that rickety Nigeria, and not South Africa, the pretentious upstart, is the economic powerhouse of the continent.

We should go easy on our dentures. The skies haven’t fallen. It is, to borrow that over-used Shakespearean phrase, much ado about nothing. It’s all about egos. Nigeria has finally won the bragging rights. But for ordinary Africans, their hellish existence continues. Nothing’s changed.

What commends Nigeria to outsiders is its huge population, especially its well-educated middle class, which makes for a lucrative market for investors.

South African companies are beating a path to its door. Those already in the country are making a mint.

It’s a shame that Nigeria should be famous for all the wrong reasons. It’s a ramshackle country that always seems on the verge of coming apart, its feuding components struggling to hang together. And, of course, corruption is rampant.

The Nigerian government a few days ago angrily denounced comments by Robert Mugabe who, in a moment of candour, had said his country was becoming as corrupt as Nigeria. He had touched a raw nerve.

It was too much to swallow, especially coming from “a brotherly country”.

Nigeria, despite its new-found status, is not yet the sort of beacon that any country worth its salt should either envy or aspire to.

It will have to do much more than juggle a few numbers before it can deservedly be seen as the shining light on an African hill.

That is not to say that South Africa is any better. We’re still new in the corruption stakes. But, as the evidence shows, we’re catching up.

Our destination, it seems, is not even Nigeria (that’s small beer); but something akin to Nigeria lumped together with former Zaire, with Jacob Zuma as a latter-day Mobutu Sese Seko. It is a scary thought.

But South Africa has already become a feeding frenzy for a connected elite.

There’s no stopping the looting. Those who try to intervene or reverse the trend are nonchalantly laughed out of court. Look at the abuse heaped on Thuli Madonsela, be it Zuma or Pansy Tlakula who she’s probing. No interference will be entertained while they’re at it.

Gwede Mantashe was moved this week to liken ANC deployees in government to mice let loose in a cheese factory. We’re in trouble. Corruption has spread like cancer.

Without speedy remedial action, the patient will succumb to the disease. But I digress.

It’s not as if South Africa, while regarded as the biggest economy on the continent, even tried to flex its muscles or deploy its status for the greater good of mankind. We’ve fallen in love with being told that the country punches above its weight in international affairs. It’s a charmingly elegant phrase, but it’s way off the mark. We can’t even stand up to tiny Rwanda. Paul Kagame’s hit squads are gallivanting unchecked here, hunting down and killing his enemies. Kagame’s political foes would be better off elsewhere. They’re sitting ducks in South Africa. A country that can’t ensure the safety of its own citizens can hardly guarantee the security of foreign nationals.

There’s no doubt that the emergence of the new South Africa, while universally welcomed, has put a few noses out of joint in Africa.

Mugabe didn’t take too kindly to being upstaged by Nelson Mandela. The Nigerians, who played a sterling role in the fight against apartheid, have seen their continental leadership challenged by the new kid on the block. South Africa has gone on to host international events, culminating in the 2010 Soccer World Cup, which have enhanced its status.

That has also unfortunately led to some nursing fanciful notions of South African being exceptional. We thought we were too smart and had a unique ability to avoid the sort of quagmire the rest of the continent has fallen into. We now know better. But that was not before our attitude had soured relations with our northern neighbours.

South Africa, like the rest of the continent, has failed to live up to its initial billing. It has wasted the invaluable international goodwill that it had coming out of the transition. The biggest economy in Africa was our only cachet, our raison d’etre. Now even that’s gone. In that way we’re walking in the footsteps of so many African countries. First, we inherit a country after a long and bitter struggle, and then we set about trashing it.

Africa’s people remain poor while its elite engage in meaningless contests. But poverty is not Africa’s problem. The continent is teeming with natural resources which, ironically, are also the source of much of the conflict.

Africa has been ill-served by its leaders — a fact we’ve come to appreciate as South Africans.

Overcome that and the continent will take off, to the betterment of all its people.