It is true that many people have the impression that Africa is a hot, water-scarce and extremely poor country, where people are dark-skinned, water resources are scarce and even some areas lack rations for basic living needs.
But it is not the whole picture of the African region, in fact, on the vast African continent there is such a country that can be called rich in the world.
01The past and present lives of South Africa, the land of the rainbow
In the 1980s and 1990s, it swept all over Asia, and it is also the eternal classic "Glorious Years" in the hearts of many people, you must have heard it, this song is the song written by lead singer Wong Ka-koo for President Mandela who liberated South Africa.
Once South Africa is also one of the most legendary countries in the world, the country's history of development and struggle is a classic of reversal. However, with the development of the times, South Africa is also gradually declining, and inevitably embarked on the road from prosperity to decline.
Located at the confluence of the Indian ocean and the Atlantic Ocean in the southern hemisphere, South Africa is the southernmost point of the African continent and is simply two worlds compared to Africa as a whole.
Although it needs to face the same heat, South Africa has been a holiday destination in the eyes of many people, and even has the reputation of "rainbow country".
South Africa's land area is also not small, about 1.219 million square kilometers, surrounded by the sea on three sides, on the African continent and Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Eswatini borders, to rely on the development of South Africa, these surrounding countries have also developed a certain characteristics.
In addition to these african continental countries, in fact, the eastern part of South Africa was soon sailing to Australia in Oceania, while the west was next to Brazil, Argentina and other South American countries.
In fact, the earliest South Africa was not as free and developed as we see it now, and like many underdeveloped regions of that period, the vast land of Africa was not spared in the Age of Discovery.
As we remember, the invention of the steam engine allowed ships to sail farther afield, which also prompted colonists to sail the seas with impunity, and once they got close to land, they would embark on the road to find territory and colonies.
When the Dutch first arrived near the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa in 1652, they quickly attracted their attention on a vast territory, and then set about expulsing the natives, ending primitive tribal settlements and beginning centuries of colonial rule.
And with the changes in the situation in Europe, the colonizers have changed wave after wave, and South Africa has never escaped the fate of colonization.
At the same time, some colonists or descendants of colonizers began to gain a foothold in the region, integrating various ethnic groups and forming considerable population development and trade exchanges, while also establishing new regimes and countries in the local area.
Of course, the Dutch did not brag about this land for too long, and the land of South Africa really has too many treasures, whether it is mining or slave trading, it seems that there is a lot of profit.
In the early 19th century, the Sun Never Set Empire took a fancy to this territory, and several rounds of conquest drove out the Dutch and became the owners of this land in South Africa.
And it was during this period, with the development of exploration technology and mining, that South Africa, which was originally fat in the eyes of the colonists, found extremely rich diamond and gold veins, which made the British happy.
The gold and diamond reserves here are the largest in the world.
This time there is no slave trade, after all, mining also requires a lot of manpower, a group of colonists came to South Africa to dig for gold, many large families also made a fortune during this period, becoming a big force in the country.
In order to expand their rights, the British successively attacked the regimes in other parts of South Africa, expelled these traditional administrators, and took over their territory.
By 1902, after the defeat of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal Republic, all of South Africa had been officially taken by the British.
You may not believe it when you say it, but a year before the founding of the People's Republic of China, or when the Huaihai Campaign was in full swing in our country, the indigenous people living on the South African continent were living inhuman life without human rights.
It was also during that period that the infamous policy of apartheid was officially introduced on the South African continent, turning the traditional inner contempt into a substantive policy.
Of course, South Africans have also had enough of this life with centuries of colonial rule, accumulating rich combat experience in continuous resistance, and began to resist and resist extremely strongly in the face of the racial policies of the colonizers.
It wasn't until 1961 that South Africa took back the initiative of its own country in a sense and established a new country, which is now the South Africa we see.
However, the original colonists did not leave this land, and some of the local Caucasians inherited the so-called sense of racial superiority, always maintaining the principle of black and white non-coexistence and non-intermarriage, and this racial discrimination policy once spread to every corner of life.
Indigenous peoples have also been subjected to many inhuman encounters and treatments, and this is the superior human rights that still exist in the hearts of some people today.
This policy black-and-white separation did not collapse under international public opinion and sanctions until the early 1990s, and although the policy was over, the wall that stood in the center of the two people never collapsed.
Thankfully, Mandela, the liberator of South Africa and the leader who led The South to the torrent of the times, was finally freed, and under his leadership, it took only a decade to gradually enter the ranks of developed countries.
Perhaps it is not very standard to say so, in fact, during the European rule of South Africa, in addition to the inhumane policy of apartheid, it did make a lot of progress on the ground, and the local development was even faster than in other regions of the world.
In fact, South Africa's development reached a peak in the late 1980s and early 1990s, becoming the most developed region in Africa and the second largest economy in the region.
The people also have a good standard of living, after all, the diamond and gold reserves are so abundant, even if most of them are taken by the colonists, the remaining part is still very impressive.
In addition to the economic development code, there is also a good degree of development in various infrastructure construction, such as entertainment, medical care, construction, industry and other fields have a good development. Compared with some countries in North Africa that have not been able to meet the needs of food and clothing, South Africans are also very happy.
South Africa's prosperity is mainly reflected in the economy, perhaps it is not the most economically developed country in the world, but at the end of the last century and the beginning of this century, it is indeed one of the most stable regions in the global economy, or it can be popularly understood as drought and flood protection, and it is the strongest industrial country in the southern hemisphere.
Mature industrial system, perfect infrastructure and various types of emerging industries, once South Africa relied on economic development, will play in various fields.
Even in the military industry, there are good prospects for development, and at its peak, it is even possible to develop and produce heavy fire weapons such as tanks and fighter jets, which is enough to see how good South Africa was at that time.
In addition to finance and industry, South Africa occupies an important position in the fields of communications, transportation and finance, and the most noteworthy is the deep well mining technology, which until now he is in the leading position in the world.
It can be said that South Africa is a country that regards mining as a lifelong cause, and many fields go hand in hand, domestic development blossoms everywhere, and it also has a lot of influence in the world.
In addition, South Africa is also a peninsula country surrounded by the sea on three sides, marine resources are particularly abundant, various torrents bring rich fish resources to South Africa's doorstep, coupled with the international hub of the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa also controls the lifeblood of marine trade development in the region.
In addition to the booming economy, South Africa is also a veritable holiday destination, under the influence of Europeans, South Africa's architectural style presents a different sense of integration with the rest of the world, the capital Tswane is beautiful and even once called "Garden City" by the people of the world.
Among them, predoria Zoo is one of the largest wildlife parks in the world, and many african animals attract tourists from all over the world every year.
But such a moment of prosperity has become a thing of the past in South Africa, from colonies to independent countries to moderately developed countries, south Africa has worked hard to achieve it, and it has only taken 5 years to go from prosperity to loneliness and neglect.
South Africa is no longer in the world, so what happened in the years to come that made him decline so completely?
02 Is the decline of South Africa the development of the times or a human factor?
In fact, many people who know the development of south Africa have such a doubt, Mandela made the South African people go to freedom, so that the black-skinned people of the indigenous people really became the masters of their own land.
But on the other hand, it is also an indisputable fact that after the local black people came to power, the South African economy or all walks of life and all walks of life have declined. Thus some people have raised their own questions about whether Mandela was a liberator or a sinner.
Perhaps there is no fixed answer to this question, depending on what the people of South Africa value, whether it is money or human rights and freedoms, which is a question worth pondering and scrutinizing for all.
Between 1994 and 1999, South Africa produced the first black president and liberator of human rights in Africa, Mandela, who devoted his life to opposing racial discrimination and achieving racial equality.
At his call, visiting human rights and improving the status of blacks became the greatest feature of his ruling career, and it was because of these actions that Mandela once became one of the most respected liberators in the world, and was even known as the "Father of the Nation of South Africa".
This can be accompanied by contradictions on the other side.
Under Mandela's leadership, the blacks of South Africa gained their due rights, regained many of their rights from the former white rulers, and truly broke away from the coolie class and became the masters of the country.
But because of this, the rights and interests of the white elite in the local area have been damaged, and there has been a wave of large-scale withdrawal from the African market.
Political and economic elites in various fields have withdrawn from the South African market, while taking away the soft resources of national development such as technology, resources, and technology, and with the lack of these resources, South Africa has also shown very obvious signs of decline.
Large enterprises that cannot operate normally, the lack of culture, the suspension of industrial production, the decline of enterprises, the decline of business, a large number of companies under the impact of the international market, there is no way to deal with it, and can only close down one after another.
Over time, South Africa's development has reached an impasse, infrastructure has not been able to be effectively maintained and grown, the economy has declined, the people's personal income and quality of life have declined, and social contradictions have deepened or even intensified.
In just 5 years, South Africa was so decaying that it was not recognized as a wealthy country that once crisscrossed the entire African continent.
And with the decline of infrastructure and utilities, poverty and the resurgence of infectious diseases across the continent, South Africa has not survived several global viral infections.
South Africa is no longer in its glory, but who can blame for this?
Just like the South Pacific country of Nauru, which made its fortune with minerals and abundant natural resources, but could not achieve wealth, the formation of minerals is long.
No matter what it is, there will be a day when South Africa's gold mines and diamonds can no longer meet the production volume, people are no longer enthusiastic about the value of South African luxury goods, but instead give birth to more finely crafted high-quality gemstones.
In addition, perhaps the lack of education and culture is also one of the important reasons for South Africa's rapid decline.
South Africa's decay stemmed from the exodus of the political and economic elites who had run south Africa with the wealth of knowledge and technology that had seen the world.
These skills also represent a means of developing vision and risk avoidance to a certain extent, and may not see its value when they are owned, but once they are missing, the drawbacks will be immediately highlighted.
South Africa, once accounted for 40% of Africa's GDP, was unbelievably high in the late 1990s when the fiscal deficit was as high as 30%.
If the development of South Africa had been gradual, it might have had a different result, but the truth has happened, everything is irreparable, this is a loss and an opportunity.
Cramming may enrich South Africa, but it is not a long-term solution for a country to survive and thrive.
Now that there is an opportunity to slow down, it may also be a good choice to find a development path that suits you again.
epilogue
Of course, the improvement of personal quality and the improvement of group skills should also attract the attention of South Africa, many times the choice is greater than the effort, but if there is no effort, even the choice given by God is meaningless.
The decline of South Africa has also given many countries and regions that are in a hurry to develop quickly and quickly, that development is a long-term and lasting cause, and it is better to promote from the inside than to exert pressure from the outside, and only the thinking broken from the inside represents vitality and rebirth.