Jarryd Goodman, 34, South African hailing from Durban
“The Changes that have been made in South Africa are of unequal opportunity. Apartheid is only a table that has been rotated. Things have changed for the worse unfortunately job availability does not meet population demand nor is their growth in the economy.”
“I expect a lot of corruption within the election counts not that it is needed. The elections will result in another president being elected whom will further divide the population and push hatred, and racism,” said Goodman who is from the state of Kwazulun.
“The last two presidents have used racism to push an agenda to convince masses that racism is rife in the country and change needs to occur however racial tension is fuelled by the government and those representing the population,” he added.
Roxanne Cordier, 31, South African from Cape Town
“I was not old enough to see the real effects of apartheid myself. But I know that a lot of older people from all races who say that services and life quality were better during that time. I feel that there is still a lot of racism and inequality in South Africa since apartheid is over and it has only gotten worse lately. Things have not changed for the good unfortunately as there is a lot of corruption and the economy has worsened over the years and the current government is running our country into the ground. These elections are already full of doubt and I don’t expect much out of them, as the current government will stop at nothing to get the majority of the votes. I really hope that things change for my family back home.”
Keiran Ballard-Tremeer, Teacher
Obviously, there’s a lot more opportunities for people who were previously disadvantaged and weren’t able to get jobs because of the colour of their skin. So of course that’s absolutely amazing and opportunities were presented to them. My very first elections I voted in was when I was 18 which was the very first elections for all-inclusive South Africa for everyone so that was quite special for me.
There’ve been many challenges for South Africa since apartheid. Obviously, a lot more jobs being needed, there’s still quite a high crime rate. And I think a lot of people have felt that they wish things to move a little bit quicker in terms of getting government housing and jobs, so that’s been quite a challenge which has led to increased crime, unfortunately. There’s still a bit of xenophobia to foreigners who get jobs in South Africa.
Things are changing for the better especially with the selection because for the first time ever we have a couple of political parties that are now becoming strong rivals for the ANC whereas in 1994 the ANC was the overwhelming majority for the elections. So all parties are now having to up their game and deliver what the people are asking for in order to maintain their power.
The bottom-line is the people just want to see less crime, less unemployment, more opportunities, and less corruption in the government.
Expectations from the elections: Less corruption in the government, more accountability for those who are in power who are not fulfilling their roles, increasing electricity supply which has been a big problem in the last couple of years. Even when I visited home recently we were without power for four hours a day for several days while I was there. So people just want jobs and less government corruption and I think opportunities to own their own land and housing.
Danie Skinner, logistics industry, 12 years in the UAE
A lot of things have changed since the apartheid. In terms of work, why are a lot of South Africans leaving South Africa? It’s because there are no job opportunities. I feel apartheid has just turned around now. When I grew up, the people that were born then who are running the country now had nothing to do with apartheid. It’s not going to stop.
What a lot of people do not realise is how many murders are happening every day in the farms. They’re killing farmers, taking the farm and in two to three years the land is dead. Now they’re wondering where’s the food going to come from. In South Africa, that’s why a lot of people are leaving is because they’ll kill you for your cellphone, for nothing. For me, like I always say, my biggest fear is to wake up one morning and to be looking down to a gun barrel.
Back home, to be honest, it’s very sad to see, the roads are full of potholes.
Some of my family and friends who are still there, it’s sad. I pray every day to not to get a phone call that something happened to them. I would like that they could stop this hatred that’s going on and that black and white can stand together, love together and make it the best country in the world because that’s what it can be. If we can sit together and don’t steal the government’s money or the tax money. There’s always power cuts because of the corruption. I’m not going to pay my salary to them and I don’t get anything from it. They want to tax us now.
It we can stand together as a nation and shake hands and say we’ll forget all the past and let’s carry on now they can make it the best country in the world. It’s as if even worse than the earlier years. But I really pray that it can [change] but I don’t see it coming right in the next 20 years.”
Elsa Burns, 40, data capturer, Sharjah
Being a white woman, we are farmers, it would be really nice to know that we are safe and with our farms. We a reproducing food. We need to know we have help in doing that, and not worry that someone will take our farm away. It would be nice to know that people who have farms are helped rather than have to worry that someone’s going to take their farms away.
In terms of changes, I’ve seen a lot of mixed-racial schools which is really encouraging and sports teams from all aspects of life. It’s wonderful. I still think there’s a lot that can be done. It would still be nice if we can have more interaction, more interracial areas. Equal pay is needed as well.
