Below is a trailer for Invictus. It chronicles the world cup win for the South African ruby team. It also shows the first few years of Mandela's presidency. The movie is really effective in highlighting the clashes and tensions that remained after the end of Apartheid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2isdUuHmFY
I was interested in learning more about South Africa's current president. This article, from his election in 2009, highlights his perceived flaws and incompetency. However, there are many he support him because he was somewhat of an underdog and comes from the party historically associated with black Africans.
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/apr/19/opinion/oe-gevisser19
The second article describes the recent tensions between South Africans and foreign business owners. South Africa's economy has been growing more slowly in recent years and many blame the influx of foreigners for taking South African jobs and outcompeting South African businesses. The article worries about what these tensions could mean for the "Rainbow nation". Even immigrants from African countries are the targets of anti-foreign attacks.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/foreign-businesses-face-backlash-in-south-africa-1425514688
Thanks for the article about South Africa's current president! I feel so focused on Mandela and his revolutionary actions and presidency that I'm completely unaware of what South Africa's current leader is up to (or even what his name is). I know we talked about separating people's public and personal lives, but the South African journalist who wrote this LA Times article has some harsh stuff to say about Jacob Zuma: "With all of this baggage, not to mention the fact that he has no education and his finances and personal life are in perpetual shambles (he is a polygamist with several wives and some 20 children), Zuma would seem ill-suited to the presidency of Africa's most sophisticated state and its flagship democracy."
ReplyDeleteI'm going to do some of my own research about what Zuma is currently up to, because this was before he was elected.
I enjoyed the article on the current president in South Africa. We have not talked about him at all and this really motivates me to go on and research more about him and what he's doing to better South Africa.
ReplyDeleteI found the second article quite interesting. South Africa's economy is unstable and many people from the area do face unemployment, so it's not surprising that it is creating tension and problems. I recently read an article that shows that the black community faces the highest unemployment rates among any other group.Similarly, the United States also seems to face the same problem with people becoming angry due to the lack of jobs.
ReplyDeleteI thought the article about the new president was very informational. I'm curious to see how people feel about him in South Africa.
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