Is South Africa capable of a fresh start? A Talk by Wolfgang Drechsler, Handelsblatt
Fri Feb 21, 17:30 - Fri Feb 21, 20:00
CPOA Quadrant Gardens
ABOUT
Identity politics, political education and colour-blind community engagement are key elements of coping with day-to-day issues, building new, sustainable structures and preparing the country for a leap into modern times.
Seasoned German journalist Wolfgang Drechsler will give his perspective and insight on the current status of South African politics and economy. He has been covering the African continent from his base in Cape Town, for more than 30 years for Germany’s top economic daily ‘Handelsblatt’ as well as other publications.
“SA had the highest of hopes when the Springboks won their first World Cup in this memorable final at Ellis Park under the eyes of Nelson Mandela in 1995 that brought the country closer together than any other event ever since. And there were high hopes again 12 years later in 2007 when they won their second World Cup in Paris while Mandela´s successor Thabo Mbeki was in charge. One year later Mbeki was gone - and Jacob Zuma installed under whose presidency (2009 - 2018) almost 900 people lost their job EVERY SINGLE DAY - 3,3 million in total. If this country ever wants to heal and truly reconcile, it now has to work as large an economic miracle as the political one that Nelson Mandela brought about 25 years ago. And that´s no small feat.“
Click to find a few articles by Wolfgang Drechsler here.
The talk is taking place at the new CPOA Quadrant Gardens Retirement Center.