3-03-08, 9:18 am

DETROIT – South Africa is at a crossroads, said Political Affairs Editor Joe Sims here at the Swords into Plowshares Peace Center and Gallery, Mar. 1. 'One direction at this cross in the road leads to the deepening of the national democratic revolution, to progress, peace, and prosperity,' said Sims. 'The other leads to its derailment.'

South Africans are universally patriotic and extremely proud of their recent history and the accomplishments of their revolution, stated Sims.

But the record is mixed. On one hand the country has made enormous social progress since the overthrow of the apartheid regime, but on the other huge economic and social problems remain, including high unemployment, a housing crisis, massive public health concerns, and racial inequality persist.

'In the fifteenth year of the revolution,' said Sims, 'South Africa is at a crossroads, and the people are demanding change.'


South Africa has made huge strides, Sims stated. And these should be applauded and recognized as major accomplishments. After centuries of colonial and apartheid rule, the South African people defeated the racists and reclaimed control of their country. The African National Congress, once outlawed as a terrorist organization, built an underground movement and an above ground people's movement for change and democracy and national liberation.

And it won, noted Sims. This was no small accomplishment. 'They went on,' he added, 'to sketch out an arc of political and legislative and legal initiatives that pointed to the kind of society that they wanted to build.' In just a few short years, the ANC-led government authored and adopted a new progressive constitution, the decision to eliminate the death penalty, unilaterally dismantling of the country's nuclear arsenal, guarantees for 50-50 parity for women, and the affirmation of the right to marry for LGBT people.

'These are not small things,' Sims argued.

Sims went on to discuss current developments in South Africa's political life, such as the election of Jacob Zuma to head the ANC and his likely campaign for the presidency next year. While controversy surrounds Zuma and it appears that a global and internal campaign to smear the ANC leadership is underway, said Sims in a radio interview with Detroit's WDET radio prior to the March 1 event, the government and country of South Africa is in 'good hands.'

Sims further compared the demands of the South African people for changes in social policies that will improve access to jobs, education, and health care with the call for change here in the US. 'Here, too, the people are demanding change,' he said. And while we may not be able to do too much about the situation in South Africa, he opined, 'we have a unique opportunity here today to turn our country around.'

The people's movement for change has swept the United States and has expressed itself in this election upsurge. 'The anti-racist, mainly anti-right wing majority that has been maturing for decades is standing up and saying 'No,' but even more they're saying 'Yes',' Sims stated.

--Reach Joel Wendland at