Hey guys. Sorry was away for the weekend, so only saw the replies today.
Here's my opinion on the current situation. I think we have great potential as a nation, but at the moment, under current administration - we're failing miserably. The people here for the most part are very friendly, especially the educated enlightened part of the population. Unfortunately that is not the majority of the nation. The majority of the nation are uneducated, poor and easily swept up by politicians with sinister motives like Julias Malema. He is the politician who recently sang a song "Kill the boer (farmer - synonomous for whites)" and defended the song because he said it formed part of the struggle during apartheid. Not even that, the ANC (party voted into government by 65% of the people) also defended the song. Julias Malema also said he supported the Zanu PF in Zimbabwe, saying that South Africa should also use the farm invasions method - an actual quote being - "it's a very correct method" - to redistribute land to the black population. To me the most worrying sign is that he gets away with these things, and he is supported by a significant portion of the population for his extremist views.
A great sign of how things can turn around happened last year in the USA with Obama being elected while 40 years ago, in some states African Americans weren't even allowed to vote. But for me unfortunately, 40 years is extremely unrealistic in South Africa, because of the fact that a large proportion of the population is illiterate and we have an unemployment ratio of something like 25% (unofficially estimated to be 40%). The most important thing to do is to alleviate the poverty in the country. Unfortunately the government is starting to listen to the significant communist tendencies of the poor masses and ironically that is a serious threat to the expansion of the economy and subsequent job creation for the poor.
Racial tensions have risen again in the last month or so, but in my opinion it's always been there and only now has the spotlight fallen on it again due to the murder of Eugene Terreblanche. I share absolutely none of the extremist views that Terreblanche supported (e.g. establishing a new country just for whites), but I can understand why white people in South Africa are threatened by his murder. It's not that he had any sort of following and support before his murder, because he didn't. I think he was the typical person that white people thought the black population perceived them as. Terms like "racist" has become synonymous with "white" in this country for ANC politicians. Political commentary (if it can be called that) such as Malema's "Kill the boer" song obviously didn't help the situation. And unfortunately the latest of Malema's comments are just waterdrops in an ocean of unjustified, unprovoked and reckless statements that have come to define the ANC. Even our president - Jacob Zuma - (democratically elected) thought he could wash off HIV in the shower after he had unprotected sex a few years ago. He is the first openly polygomous president in the history of South Africa, having something like 5 wives. A case of corruption was also mysteriously dropped against him last year (2 weeks before he was elected), due to technicalities with a person involved in a dismantled agency that was part of the investigations. The days of Nelson Mandela and the reconciliation of the 90s are long gone. The current administration is practicing unofficial apartheid reversed, disguised as a democratic party.
To me the world cup would have been a great opportunity if a competent government was in place that was able to curb the crime present in the country at present. There are 50 people being murdered here every day. I read an article saying that Darfur and some other country at war, were the only other countries in Africa with higher crime rates than here. That puts countries like Zimbabwe (which has a 80% unemployment rate) above us in crime performance. I think that just goes to show, that there are some other forces than poverty at work here. I'd say its fair comment to say that Egypt and Morocco are better equipped to host the world cup.
I sincerely hope that we can sort out our problems. As I said, I do think we as a country have huge potential. If we can just get to a point where the best political party can win the next election (or at least compete), regardless of race representation, we have a chance.
Unfortunately, until the crime issue is sorted out, I can't advise anyone to come to this beautiful country. Safety has to come first, and I think it's reckless of the South African government to not at least warn incoming tourists of potential danger zones.