We will be back in half an hourfrom oui we will be back in half an hourfrom our special coverage of super tuesday. Now on bbc news, hardtalk. Welcome to heart talk. The cape is the stronghold of south africas main opposition party. The Democratic Alliance. And when ed elected its first black leader five yea rs elected its first black leader five years ago, many believed it was the start of a new era. My guest is his first interview to an International Broadcasting since he stepped down as Democratic Alliance leader in october. What does his resignation tell us about race and politics in south africa today . Mmusi maimane in cape town, welcome to hardtalk. Thank you very much for having me. Why did you step down as leader of the Democratic Alliance in october . Well, i thought, at that point, that the da and i did not share a common vision. At first, i pursued the vision of a nonracial south africa, i believe the da needed to govern in more places, that the da needed to grow in the majo
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. 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 direction. but the reality is that if you are a young south african reaching adulthood today, you only have a one in two chance of actually finding a job. 50% of young people are out of work. a state should be able to provide work for its people, should ensure that the economy functions. we have a south afr
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
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
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, its 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 direction. but the reality is that if you are a yo