INEQUALITY
The wealthy put on blinkers when South Africa’s democracy dawned
After 1994, a new class developed in SA — a group of people who regard what is happening in the country as normal. Apartheid was dismantled, everything turned out fine, and the future is bright. Finish and klaar. South Africans who still cannot see the debilitating consequences of apartheid in their daily lives must surely be blind. The beggars at the robots, the potholes in the streets, the crumbling infrastructure and the lack of skills; compared with shiny cars, suburban villas, comfortable restaurants and chic shopping malls point to something seriously wrong. It is strange but true, there are many who appear blind to this huge problem. For this class of people, it is business as usual in SA: they charge high interest rates on loans; expect immediate, First World-standard service in every shop they visit; ask for sizeable monthly payments for subscription television; amass considerable personal wealth and buy expensive racehorses while living in a country that is a sea of povert...
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