The unprecedented political and social upheaval that gripped the continent's post-colonial jewel South Africa in July 2021, following the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma, for contempt of court on corruption charges and fraud, is not only a manifestation of the country, but its future as well.
Shocking scenes of looting and rioting that followed the 15-month jail sentence in many provinces particularly KwaZulu Natal, which is the tribal homeland of Zuma, and the wealthiest Gauteng where the administrative capital Pretoria, and biggest city Johannesburg fall under, were totally negative for African politics.
Nonetheless, only a handful of analysts predicted the disparaging developments that on one hand, saw some middle-class blacks taking part in the monumental looting, and lauding the benefits therein, amid some 354 deaths and US$2,4 billion economic loss, according to reports.
But how did constitutional, democratic and industrialised South Africa, arrive at the glaring and unsettling crossroads now inherent in the sub-Saharan region?
The country that miraculously avoided Algeria-style independence crisis, given its white population at 5,149 million during the transitional period in 1993, is home to chilling xenophobic attacks against migrants and refugees from the very continent, as well as Rhodes Must Fall campaign, which inspired Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and anti-white fundamentalism worldwide.
Ironically the racial campaign, which called for the removal of the statue of Cecil John Rhodes from Cape Town University (UCT), is the brainchild of students and staff at the university that includes Ntokozo Qwabe, a controversial anti-West Rhodes Scholar, whose violent and successful campaign at UCT in 2015- saw another highly divisive a year later at Oxford University in Britain, where Oriel College, has hosted the statue of Rhodes for more than a century.
A mining magnate and founder of De Beers diamond empire as well as Prime Minister of Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896, Rhodes an alumnus of Oxford and staunch believer in British imperialism, had through his will in 1902, the oldest and prestigious graduate scholarship.
Indeed, Pretoria's policy orientation, which is similar to that of its northern neighbour, geopolitical ally as well as largest trading partner Harare, the administrative capital of Zimbabwe; is wholly entrenched in cronyism and political scapegoating towards the West.
A former British colony ranking among the world's 25 poorest nations, and 152 out of 180 on Transparency International corruption index, as well as dominated by Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU PF) party since independence in 1980; Zimbabwe now referred to as the land of "Gold Mafia," after an Al Jazeera undercover report unearthed unprecedented gold smuggling involving top government officials, established Marxist-Leninist ties with the African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa, during apartheid.
However, owing to the collapse of its agriculture-based economy immediately after the bloody confiscation of white commercial farms in 2000, that benefited mainly members of the ruling elite, their families and close friends; the economic and political situation in this Southern African nation, is relentless.
According to The NewsHawks, an investigative media house, the late dictator Robert Mugabe's family grabbed a total of 24 farms, the prime of the now dead capital and underutilised 14 million hectares, that include wildlife conservancies and plantations.
Absolutely, Zuma's disgruntled ethnic group the Zulu, were blamed for the widespread mayhem, literally, demoralisation and frustration over a detached political system, roused emotions among the poor and working class South Africans reeling under the COVID-19 induced economic hardships.
The confirmed pandemic figures currently stand at 4,076,463 cases and 102,592 deaths.
Now in Pretoria, an investigation in 2016 by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, into allegations of state capture, corruption and fraud in the public sector, unearthed gross abuse of power among ANC party members, that forced then president Zuma to establish in January 2018, a steering committee known as the Zondo Commission.
Poignantly in 2021, the report implicated him together with the wealthy Gupta family.
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