South African president Jacob Zuma gives a celebration speech on Freedom Day at the Union Building in Pretoria, South Africa
on 27 April 2010.
Other policies, such as Black Economic Empowerment and
Affirmative Action, have also been implemented in order to
redress the Apartheid legacy.
However, 20 years after the establishment of South Africa’s
democracy, the outcomes so far have been unsatisfactory. The
principal reason has been the persistence of exceptionally high
unemployment of around 24%. This has been where the economy
has battled. In addition, the economy has not recovered well in the
wake of the global financial crisis of 2008, which had its epicenter
in the developed markets. Social unrest has also become evident
with the escalation of service delivery protests across South Africa.
The economy has distinctly underperformed since 2008. While the
2008 global financial crisis was one factor, the underperformance
of the South African economy stands out when compared with
other emerging market economies and also that of many countries
in Africa. A number of measures have also deteriorated such as the
debt levels, the deficits and unemployment. The highly regarded
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macroeconomic management of Sou Y