Bye bye Africa Hello Dubai

Not sure upon reflection what my feelings are about South Africa. It's been about 5 years since I've been there and though the economy is on the upswing now, it's been 10 years since real democracy came to the country and there are still huge challenges ahead.
There's no effective opposition to the government party and the ruling ANC do not take kindly to criticism. It adopts a prickly stance referring back to the struggle and hints darkly at conspiracies when charges of corruption and cronyism surface.
It's perhaps inevitable that the former members of the armed struggle would be overwhelmingly elected to office and now there's an understandable struggle to make the transition to civil government with "civilian" ministers. There's a lack of "non struggle" politicians and I wonder if a professional political class from the black majority has had a chance to develop and flourish.
The opposition parties are in disarray and have no large natural constituencies. Its unclear who white South Africans vote for. The old governing party merged with the ANC which is a bit bizarre when you think about it.
If you go by what the papers report politics remind you more of student union style bickering than parliamentry debate.
HIV and AIDS are lurking beasts and are a terrible threat to the future. The absurdities of the current policies would lead one to despair if there were not at the same time real evidence of progress. I'll give you a couple of examples to illustrate my point:
Former Vice President Zuma (dismissed over a massive corruption scandal but still serving as deputy leader of the ruling ANC) , was being tried for rape of an HIV positive woman. He was eventually acquitted. His admission that he had unprotected sex, and used a post coital shower as his protection from infection, drew outraged criticism, not least because he had headed up the governments anti AIDS education program.
Though discredited and subject to ongoing corruption investigations, he is popular with the rank and file and has impeccable anti apartheid credentials and is still very much in the running to succeed Mbeki post 2009.
The Ministry of Health has just published a report showing that there is no evidence that garlic and lemon juice can serve as a substitute for anti-retro viral drugs in the treatment of AIDS. This seems self evident however South Africa's Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has often claimed that the use of garlic, lemon and other vegetables -- earning her the nickname Dr Beetroot -- could contain the epidemic.
"These delay the development of HIV to AIDS-defining conditions, and that's the truth," she told parliament last year.
Dan Ncayiyana, editor of the South African Medical Journal and one of the authors of the study, said: "One of our most important findings has been that nutrition is important for general health but is not sufficient to contain the HIV/AIDS or the tuberculosis epidemic." (aFP)

Despite these worrying issues the press in South Africa remains robustly outspoken and unafraid of exposing corruption and stupidity.

Crime remains a real problem and feels to a Canadian at least, out of control.

The shooting death of the 11 year old Rhys Jones in Liverpool and the subsequent media coverage is in marked contrast to the relegation to the middle pages in the Durban Mercury of daily accounts of murder, shootings and school staff room stabbings and robberies.

Over the 6 days I stayed at the Hilton beside the International Conference Centre, there were 6 or 7 muggings and a stabbing in and around the conference center itself. Delegates felt under siege.

I'm struggling to see how a country so obsessed with racial groupings, empowerment and dealing with the dark evils of the past will continue to move forward. Many whites in South Africa see a bleak future and though on the surface seem to embrace the new realities, after a few beers you hear the prejudices re-emerge.

A taxi driver told me "This is not like Cape Town, Durban is full of Kaffirs...these black bastards are animals"

He looked Black to me, but explained he was "coloured".

The politics are difficult to understand.

Cape Town is a wonderful place and I think is unique in the country. Though there are problems there as well, you can at least walk the streets of the central business district.
Durban, out in the beach suburbs seemed nice enough, but the city itself is grim. A decade on South Africa has made great progress and though there are huge challenges ahead it will hopefully continue to move forward.
If it fails to do so, one need only look a few hundred miles north to Zimbabwe and see the ugly spectacle of a country imploding to see a possible future .
Oh dear this all appears rather glum.
It bears mentioning that South Africa has in large part remained free of the ghosts haunting Zimbabwe and the comparison at this stage serves only as a proverbial bogeyman.
There is a Black middle class emerging, and beginning to exert its influence. The townships are better places (relative to the bad old days) but more needs to be done.
I really believe in the place and hope that the issues of crime, equality, and AIDS can be conquered.

I'm not a political commentator and there are layers of complexities in play which I'm not capable of dissecting.
These are simply impressions from a brief flying visit.
End of sermon.
After a long journey I'm in Dubai and the 40+ heat is as tough to take as it gets.
Between now and heading home on Friday, I''m be going to Qatar, Oman and Abu Dhabi
Stay tuned
T