Does Post-Apartheid South Africa Hold Any Lessons for Palestine’s Future?

Source: Statistics South Africa | Unemployment rates include those discouraged from seeking work. | By Lauren Leatherby, NY Times

We are witnessing the decimation of Gaza and the erosion of any Palestinian presence within Israel’s territorial control. As tens of thousands of innocents die in Benjamin Netanyahu’s impossible mandate to annihilate Hamas regardless of the cost, and given his and his rightwing coalition’s seeming focus on crushing the Palestinian presence, ironically from “the river to the sea,” there seems to be a complete absence of any realistic post-IDF-conquest vision for the governance of Gaza and the West Bank (once believed to be the mainstay of a future Palestinian state). There are no announced Israeli exit plans, and other than their total rejection of a two-state solution, no plan for the subsequent rights and governance of Palestinians in that territory.

As the United States approves more munitions for Israel, an apparent contradiction of the Biden administration’s call for restraint by Israeli forces, university campus seizures and protests across the land led by Gen Z participants (including many Jewish students) remind me of how the Vietnam War era protests eventually pulled us out of that misguided military effort against communism. Is that what will happen here? Has Biden lost very necessary Gen Z votes? Can antisemitism be separated from anti-Zionism? And if those impossible dreams of the 1993/95 Oslo Accords – creating a pledge of a two-state solution – can even be resurrected, is there a form of Palestinian self-governance that could work… assuming all that damage is repaired.

As South Africa celebrates the thirtieth anniversary of the end of apartheid, how did that model work; how did life improve for Black Africans there? How are patterns established over long periods of time erased and rebuilt? The above graph does not suggest a reason for optimism, but that just might not be true. New York Times S.A. bureau chief, John Eligon, addresses those questions in the Times April 26th The Morning: “South Africa’s apartheid government died in an election 30 years ago tomorrow. For the first time, Black South Africans were among those casting ballots. In the regime’s place, voters inaugurated a democracy led by people who look like the country’s majority. Hopes ran high: Nelson Mandela became president and vowed to help Black communities prosper by giving them access to the wealth, land and mines — South Africa is rich in gold and diamonds — colonizers had taken.

“Toppling the racist regime, it turns out, was just the beginning… Three decades later, Mandela’s vision is far from realized. Most Black South Africans don’t earn enough to meet their basic needs, and many lack reliable services like electricity and water. Racial disparities in employment, education and income are still massive. Communities where people live in tin shacks and use latrines sit alongside suburbs with swimming pools and electrified walls…

“For all its problems, South Africa has still achieved something remarkable. After apartheid, its democratic government, led by the liberation movement, the African National Congress, drafted a constitution that enshrines equal rights for everyone. Since 1994, the country has held six peaceful and credible democratic elections. Even though the A.N.C. has had a grip on power, the political arena is fierce and combative. This year, a record 52 parties will be on the national ballot.

“In many places, you see an inclusive joy these days that would not have been possible under apartheid. On any given night, you’ll find Black partygoers in swanky nightclubs or high-end restaurants, sucking on hookah pipes or posing for Instagram snapshots. Some townships, which the apartheid government had designed to keep the Black population ostracized, have vibrant arts and culture scenes. Festivals are frequently held in all parts of the country and draw multiracial crowds. Many thump with amapiano, a South African brand of house music, and revelers doing smooth robotic jiggles.

“The economic situation is not uniformly bleak. The upscale shopping malls and modern office towers are no longer the preserve of white South Africans. In 2022, there were 16 times more Black South Africans living in households among the top 15 percent of earners than there were in 1995.

“Even when it comes to venting frustrations with the government, there is a lively protest culture, with people of all shades and socioeconomic backgrounds taking to the streets. Civil society thrives: Many human rights organizations advocate for the most vulnerable. A robust and independent press calls out government wrongdoing.” Palestinians have one huge disadvantage – the destruction of most of Gaza and much of their holdings on the West Bank – and one huge advantage – they are better trained and educated than the Black citizens of South African from the Apartheid era. But the lesson in both South Africa and Palestinian lands is the absolute value of self-governance… the restoration of hope and dignity.

I’m Peter Dekom, and with global “rebuilding support,” if there is a new Palestinian state with true independence, the restoration of hope and dignity gives the world promise of a gradual success story, even with lots of expected ups and downs.