Word: anc
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...During his time in jail, Mandela was an important symbol of opposition to apartheid. But "the closest thing the world has to a secular saint"? On most practical measures, South Africa has gone backward since Mandela's presidency. The African National Congress (ANC) has been in power since 1994 and is as unlikely to be replaced via the ballot box as President Robert Mugabe's government is in Zimbabwe. South Africa's real saint is Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu. Julius Bergh, Nerang, Queensland...
...fight against apartheid is over. Journalists should now be focusing on the performance of the ANC after 14 years in power. On its watch, South Africa has seen increased unemployment, a widening of the gap between rich and poor, lowered educational standards, declining health services, an uncontrolled AIDS pandemic, a justice system in disarray, an inept police force, the second highest murder rate and the highest rape rate in the world, ethnic cleansing of white citizens, the national electricity provider unable to satisfy power needs, and more than half of municipalities approaching bankruptcy. Cynics now predict that South Africa will...
...struggle. But more important was that dazzling, beatific, all-inclusive smile. For white South Africans, the smile symbolized Mandela's lack of bitterness and suggested that he was sympathetic to them. To black voters, it said, I am the happy warrior, and we will triumph. The ubiquitous ANC election poster was simply his smiling face. "The smile," says Ramaphosa, "was the message...
...historical correlation between leadership and physicality. George Washington was the tallest and probably the strongest man in every room he entered. Size and strength have more to do with DNA than with leadership manuals, but Mandela understood how his appearance could advance his cause. As leader of the ANC's underground military wing, he insisted that he be photographed in the proper fatigues and with a beard, and throughout his career he has been concerned about dressing appropriately for his position. George Bizos, his lawyer, remembers that he first met Mandela at an Indian tailor's shop in the 1950s...
...statesman, Mandela was uncommonly loyal to Muammar Gaddafi and Fidel Castro. They had helped the ANC when the U.S. still branded Mandela as a terrorist. When I asked him about Gaddafi and Castro, he suggested that Americans tend to see things in black and white, and he would upbraid me for my lack of nuance. Every problem has many causes. While he was indisputably and clearly against apartheid, the causes of apartheid were complex. They were historical, sociological and psychological. Mandela's calculus was always, What is the end that I seek, and what is the most practical...