features of the economy that is fluctuating at an international level, which has had an impact on our own economy, but also partly some of our own weaknesses in terms of managing the economy well. we are under recovery. and objectively, the covid 19 messed up a lot of countries. the ukraine/russia war in itself has shattered most economies in the world and it has brought a high level of cost of living and a number of challenges that have affected adversely the developing nations. so some of the features that we see in terms of the economy of south africa are not immune to us only. if you look at the state of unemployment in europe, in some of the advanced economies, it is ea rth shattering. yes, nothing like it is here, though. and, mr secretary general, we have to face one simple fact. your party, the anc, has been in powerfor 29 years, and you quite literally cannot even keep the lights on in this country. we have been in power for less than 30 years. and in that. three dec
of the guard coming in south africa, the anc s decline is terminal. it s just a matter of how fast, did you really believe that? of course i believed it then. i think it s a fair assessment about where the anc find themselves in the last local government elections, in 2021, they, for the first time in post democratic south africa, lost their majority and fell below 50%. this obviously allied with the fact that our economy s not growing, we ve got 30 million people living in poverty, 12 million people unemployed, and loadshedding, rolling blackouts, which have reached into every home and switched off the lights, switched off our factories, and switched off our economy. south africans are realising that if they don t change the way they vote, south africa is going to end up in a very, very dark place, and it s going to be poverty and inequality deepening. well, in that bleak context that you ve just outlined, with the unemployment, what they call here loadshedding , the rol
but right now, south africa is in a big mess, with a protracted energy crisis, shocking levels of unemployment and inequality, and systemic corruption. my guest is the secretary general of the anc, fikile mbalula. is his party about to pay the price of failure? fikile mbalula, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for having us, and welcome to luthuli house. it s a great pleasure to be here. how disappointed are you with the state south africa is in today? south africa is undergoing challenges like many other countries. but i think to put us into a category of a failed state, it s an exaggeration. er. ican give. but you think that s a conversation that south africans are having amongst themselves? well, it comes from pockets of the. ..powerful thinkers in the country who project us as displaying characteristics of a failed state, of course. we may not be too defensive to that. if certain things are not resolved, we will become a failed state. but we are notjourneying towards that di
the anc has been damaged by economic stagnation, a protracted energy crisis, and massive inequality. my guest today is the leader of the biggest opposition party, the democratic alliance, john steenhuisen. could he become south africa s first white leader since apartheid? john steenhuisen, welcome to hardtalk. great to be with you, stephen. well, it s great to be here in cape town. let s start with a very simple question. when you said not so long ago, there is a changing of the guard coming in south africa, the anc s decline is terminal. it s just a matter of how fast, did you really believe that? of course i believed it then. i think it s a fair assessment about where the anc find themselves in the last local government elections, in 2021, they, for the first time in post democratic south africa, lost their majority and fell below 50%. this obviously allied with the fact that our economy s not growing, we ve got 30 million people living in poverty, 12 million people une
my guest today is the leader of the biggest opposition party, the democratic alliance, john steenhuisen. could he become south africa s first white leader since apartheid? john steenhuisen, welcome to hardtalk. great to be with you, stephen. well, it s great to be here in cape town. let s start with a very simple question. when you said not so long ago, there is a changing of the guard coming in south africa, the anc s decline is terminal. it s just a matter of how fast, did you really believe that? of course i believed it then. i think it s a fair assessment about where the anc find themselves, in the last local government elections, in 2021, they, for the first time in post democratic south africa, lost their majority and fell below 50%. this obviously allied with the fact that our economy s not growing, we ve got 30 million people living in poverty, 12 million people unemployed, and loadshedding, rolling blackouts, which have reached into every home and switched off the