A historical milestone in the annals of South Africa

THE SO STRIKING exceptionalism of South Africa has been rubbished many times recently (Cheryl Hendricks, The Star, February 14). It seems to be the fashion to somehow accommodate and explain our glaring failures over the past near quarter century.

Yet if one takes its historical birth as 1652 when a group of Hollanders established a refreshment station in the Cape, we see immediately that it was exceptional – at that time. The Dutch East India company of Amsterdam needed a half-way foraging station for trade ships to its south-east Asia colonies. Colonising that tip of Africa was not an issue, as opposed to “white” settlements elsewhere clearly there as agents of their national governments to enrich the home state. Van Riebeeck was their local business manager, and soon left on another assignment.

Local management decided on more efficient production by “privatising”, allowing employees to farm as free burghers. They moved steadily further away from the administration’s jurisdiction, bringing them in conflict with the Xhosas.

When the new British administration abolished slavery they trekked inland with many former “slaves”. They established two agrarian republics after conflicts with Zulus and others. When diamonds and gold were discovered it was the Boers, not the indigenous peoples, who stood in the way of the imperialist coloniser Cecil Rhodes and suffered grievously in the war of 1899-1901.

Afrikaners could not be ignored as bulwark against black resistance and soon were granted substantial self-government.

This synergy eventually led to the apartheid ideology, but also to numerous visionaries who saw the future in shared terms.

Also to an African liberation organisation now exceptional in recently having celebrated 106 years and over last 70 years nailing its flag firmly to the mast of non-racialism.

Nelson Mandela, world icon, said in the dock that he would die for this principle and spent 27 years on Robben Island.

He was released not to take revenge, but to reaffirm the principle as part of a new dispensation for his people against the “religion” of neo-liberalism in a thorough restructuring he entrusted to a younger trade union supremo to implement.

A youngish and highly ambitious English educated interloper backed by tens of thousands deprived bush-living exiles who wanted to “eat” and some neo-liberal businesses scuppered this endeavour, resulting in the growing devil’s brew of worsening exploitation, burgeoning corruption, breakdown in services and incipient state capture.

This was gleefully perfected by Zuma to the near-ruin of the country.

The then young trade union leader Ramaphosa, with exceptional strategic ability, kept himself politically alive and relevant and is now president of South Africa and committed to the very radical socio-economic transformation he was mandated to implement by Madiba himself.

Only a politically misguided or even historically obtuse commentator could miss the striking South African exceptionalism over the centuries briefly reviewed here.

A striking South African exceptionalism

Bramley, Joburg