THE FAILURE OF ANC

When the ANC triumphed over apartheid the celebrations were world wide, but what was the outcome? "The venerated party once banned for decades under apartheid has won every national election since racist white rule ended in 1994, and President Jacob Zuma vows the party "will rule until Jesus comes." Yet as the African National Congress marks its 100th anniversary this weekend with fanfare and dozens of visiting presidents, critics say the ANC has failed to unchain an impoverished majority still shackled by a white-dominated economy. Unemployment hovers around 36 percent and soars to 70 percent among young people. Half the country's population lives on just 8 percent of the national income, according to the Congress of South African Trade Unions." (Associated Press, 5 January) The sad truth is that an apartheid version of capitalism has been replaced by an ANC version, but it is still capitalism. RD