When it comes to South Africa, many people's biggest impression is that it is full of gold and diamonds. This country, which has the reputation of "Golden Country" and "Rainbow Country", can be said to be deeply favored by heaven. In its land of more than one million square kilometers, it is full of minerals and the natural environment is superior. In the 1960s and 1970s, South Africa's economy achieved remarkable results, becoming the only developed country in Africa.
At that time, the so-called "South-South cooperation" was not at all compatible with South Africa, and the gap between this country in the southernmost part of Africa and other former brothers and sisters was already a world of difference. In the 1960s, when the economy was at its most prosperous, South Africa's economy grew at a pace comparable to that of Japan, which soared. It has a complete manufacturing and financial system, Cape Town, Johannesburg and other cities, has no less than europe and the United States modernization scene, which is generally backward in Africa, is undoubtedly a miracle.
However, when the 2010 World Cup refocused the world's attention on South Africa, it was found that the country that should be rich in the impression was extremely poor in social security and inefficient, which was far from the image of a developed country in people's minds. As we learn more, we will find that as early as 2013, South Africa was overtaken by Nigeria to become the second largest economy in Africa. Today, South Africa has regressed as a developing country, and its economy is still not improving.
So how did South Africa retreat from an enviable developed country to a developing country?
Like other African countries, South Africa was once a colony of Western powers. As early as 1652, the Dutch, who had been the hegemon of the world, came here to colonize. In 1867, the discovery of gold attracted a large number of European gold diggers, and the British followed, turning South Africa into its colony, where a large number of white people lived and multiplied, and in 1961 became independent, establishing the country they ruled, and establishing the apartheid system in the form of legislation.
This much-maligned policy had an unexpected effect at the time. At that time, the country's white elite, with advanced management and technical means from Europe and the United States, fully combined what they learned with South Africa's superior natural conditions, which promoted the take-off of the South African economy. In the mid-1970s, South Africa's industrial output accounted for 40% of the entire African economy, and "Made in South Africa" also occupied a place in the world.
However, behind the prosperity of society, there is an undercurrent
Surging. At that time, although South Africa was ruled by whites, they accounted for only one-fifth of the total population, and the majority of blacks were limited by the level of education and could only work at the lowest level, resulting in a continuous widening of the gap between the rich and the poor in society. In this context, apartheid has become the biggest obstacle to the comprehensive development of society in South Africa.
In fact, since the beginning of the apartheid system, it has aroused black opposition, and in the 1970s, this opposition intensified, and after more than a decade of persistence, South Africa finally abolished the discriminatory apartheid system in 1990. However, after the realization of democratic freedoms, the overly overcorrected policies pursued by South Africa destroyed the original prosperity.
In order to quickly solve the problem of the gap between the rich and the poor, the new government has forced the allocation of posts to blacks in various industries across the country, resulting in a mismatch between the ability of blacks and jobs in many industries, and the economic and social conditions in South Africa continue to decline. And the flight of the white elite has accelerated the deterioration of this situation.
At the same time, the new government has fully liberalized trade barriers, which disregards the laws of economic operation, which has impacted the otherwise complete Trade and Financial System of South Africa, a large number of foreign investors have poured into South Africa, the country's uncompetitive industrial products have failed, a large number of local enterprises have gone bankrupt, and the economy has declined.
At the same time, after the apartheid system, the "black household" population that had previously poured into South Africa also had a legal identity, which became a hidden danger to the deterioration of social security. In this way, the original good hand of cards was played by the new government out of good intentions but no ability to govern, and the scenery of South Africa gradually faded, and even surpassed by many countries.