Event: South Africans

Children carry the heaviest burden: inadequate nutrition, unsafe housing, limited early childhood development, and weak schooling outcomes overlap and compound. Thirty-two years ago, South Africans were promised a better life for all. That promise is now measured not by slogans, but by the daily reality of unemployment, failing services, and a political culture that too often rewards impunity. In the early years of democracy, the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) was sold as a near-sacred blueprint for transformation. Yet it was sidelined quickly. By 1996, the government had pivoted to Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR), a macroeconomic strategy intended to stabilise the economy, cut the deficit, and reassure investors. It read well, and it was marketed well. But for millions, the central test—work and rising living standards—never followed at anything like the scale required. Many of the leaders who midwifed democracy—on both sides of the old divide—have exited the main stage. Some now posture as elder statesmen, attempting to reclaim the moral authority they once enjoyed. But the country they helped shape is frayed, and it is hard to take comfort in official insistence that “we have done well” when everyday life tells a harsher story. South Africa has spent years—and billions—on commissions that describe wrongdoing in forensic detail. The Zondo Commission on State Capture reportedly cost about R1 billion. Yet, for ordinary people, the most visible outcome has been frustration: high-profile accountability feels slow, selective, or absent. New inquiries, including the Madlanga Commission, add to the sense that we are excellent at diagnosing rot—and far less capable of removing it. The pattern is old. The Arms Deal remains a foundational lesson in how alleged corruption can outlive consequences. A few convictions occurred, but the broader message endured: powerful networks can survive scandal, inquiries, and time. The Seriti Commission (2011–2016)…