Perceptions and Reality

            The former academic director of the program (a man who was in exile until 1991 and served in the TRC investigating human rights violations committed by the Apartheid regime) spoke to us today about the current state of South Africa.  He mentioned the Constitutional Court (the highest court in South Africa that addresses only rights issues); the AIDS problem in South Africa; the country’s social net, which, in contrast to most developed nations (including the U.S.), has been increased over the past few years; unemployment in South Africa; and the significant problem with corruption within education in South Africa.  Similar to other scholars here to whom I have spoken, this man was very positive (without losing a sense of reality) about how far South Africa has come and about its future.

            During this man’s talk I thought about how progressive South Africa has become in just seventeen years and where the U.S. currently is in comparison.  South Africa has abolished the death penalty, legalized gay marriage, increased programs benefitting the poor and sick, and their spending on education is twice as much as it is on their military.  Interesting, I thought.  We (Americans) talk about South Africa being so dangerous, crime ridden, and not yet developed when, in reality, they are more progressive than us in many areas of society. 

            The former academic director also talked about where we will be staying during our homestays, which is an all black neighborhood that was destroyed by the Apartheid government (all of its residents forcibly removed) and later rebuilt.  Most whites in South Africa do not go near Cato Manor merely because it is all black and therefore (in the white mind) “dangerous” and crime ridden.  In contrast to this false perception, the man told us, we will be quite safe because this community will make an effort to protect us (SIT students have been staying here for years).  He told us that they see us as an asset, making any threat to us a threat to the community.