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OF LATE South Africa’s economic, political and social situation has been somewhat gloomy for people like me who were elated when the late president Nelson Mandela became the country's leader in 1994.
Millions of us, who had experienced apartheid and its soul-crushing policies first hand, believed the African National Congress would transform the country completely into an honest and just nation.
However, corruption scandals, an underperforming economy and total disregard for the rule of law by the government in recent months have turned this confidence into a feeling of dread.
The negativity which had been prevalent in South Africa before the 1994 all-race elections is now tapping at the door again, with many thinking nothing will ever work again.
Even worse, I happened to have a chat with a couple of guys in their late 50s at the weekend who were concerned that they would never get paid their government pension money when it is due to them.
Widespread financial looting
They believe this will be a direct result of widespread financial looting by civil servants.
But some good things have happened in the country under the ANC's watch.
In the years shortly after Mandela - and after him, former president Thabo Mbeki - was inaugurated, it was exhilarating for the first time to be South African.
Before the global economic downturn which started in 2007, the country’s economy was doing quite well under the stewardship of Mbeki and his cohorts.
The gap between the poor and rich was closing as Mbeki’s plan to create a thriving middle class gained momentum.
South Africa hosted the Soccer World Cup in 2010 as well as a couple of very important global summits, bringing sought-after hard currency into the country.
These things made us think that we had moved beyond being a country rich in mineral resources but populated by millions of destitute people.
Mandela - and Mbeki and President Jacob Zuma after him - created social programmes like child grants that have helped the indigent to survive.
They have built millions of low-cost houses to accommodate people who would otherwise not have a roof over their heads.
When I grew up many moons ago during the apartheid years, not many houses in the townships were renovated to increase their value. But this is now happening in every second township home.
South Africa has more than 20 million smartphones users, according to research. This is a staggering number considering that South Africa has about 50 million people.
Not much has changed for SA's poor
Be that as it may, the obstacle is that other than material goods, not much has changed for the poor people of South Africa.
The educational system is feeble, and access to decent healthcare in the country has become very hard.
The present economic and political catastrophe breeds many concerns. Will South Africa’s recent achievements wash down the gutter? Will smartphone usage become a thing of the past?
Listening to what my friends were saying at the weekend, it could even be worse than this. One even went to the extent of saying all our tarred roads are going to be turned into gravel roads because of lack of proper maintenance.
Many people have raised concerns over recent events in the country. One of the most talked-about of these has been Zuma’s accent joke about Nkandla, and a damning high court rebuke of the government for flouting a court order by allowing Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir to leave the country after the International Criminal Court called for his arrest.
We need to discover new ways aimed at ensuring that South Africa is a country where everyone has a fair chance.
We want a South Africa with a middle class that not only can acquire expensive imported perfume and mobile phones, but also be moved by a Matisse painting.
This South Africa, regrettably, remains somewhere in the future.
*Mzwandile Jacks is an independent journalist. Opinions expressed are his own.
