Say a prayer for Africa – especially South Africa, the best opportunity for the future of Sub-Saharan Africa. The 300 million of us in the US won the birthing lottery and have benefited from a stable, equitable political system and economic plenty. The 830 million born into Africa have instead known, for the most part, only privation and political chaos through no fault of their own (although their leaders have a lot to answer for). The African continent’s total Gross Domestic Product is only $665 per person, about 2% of what we enjoy in the U.S. The figure for Sub-Saharan Africa is even lower. By comparison, the South American continent has around 40% of Africa’s population but generates twice as much economic activity.

After suffering from colonialism (pretty much everywhere), apartheid (South Africa and Namibia), incessant civil war (Angola), kleptocracy (Zaire under Mobuto), and current thuggery (Zimbabwe under Mugabe), this region is pretty much down at the bottom of the world looking up. The people of this region deserve better. If any country in Sub-Saharan Africa can make it, it’s South Africa. South African per capita GDP of $3,300 far exceeds the regional average but is still less than one-tenth of the U.S. figure. South Africa is blessed with infrastructure, abundant natural resources, world leading industries, and since 1994 a stable democracy. After visiting Sub-Saharan Africa three times in the past three years, I am totally enchanted by this region and this country.

South Africans have a lot to be thankful for. First of all they should be thankful for the leadership of Nelson Mandela (a leader in the African National Congress (ANC) and the first post-apartheid elected President) and F.W. DeKlerk (the last apartheid-era President of South Africa) when they negotiated a relatively peaceful transfer to democracy a decade ago. After visiting Robben Island, the prison home of Mandela and others in the ANC, I can imagine that I would have many emotions going through me after 20 years as an inmate but the magnanimity shown by Mandela and others would not be at the top of my list.

Second, South Africans can be thankful that the ANC, which has remained as South Africa’s ruling party the last ten years, has avoided a retribution path and has attempted to keep the South African economy moving. There are many criticisms that can be leveled at the ANC, but all one has to do for an alternative object lesson is look across the border at Zimbabwe and see what Robert Mugabe’s approach of expropriating assets has done for that country. I was in Zimbabwe in 2001 and it very much had the feel of “would the last person out of the country please turn out the lights.”

After 10 years of democratic rule, South Africa’s challenges remain steep. Serious issues of joblessness, crime, corruption, housing, and public health are readily evident through what one observes directly or reads and hears about in the local news. We have the same issues in the U.S. - they just tend to be an order of magnitude worse here. The most interesting legacy of apartheid, though, is the persistent segregation of cultures. Driving from one neighborhood in Cape Town to the next is like going from one country to another. The differences are stark and they occur literally across the street. One South African who spent 20 years out of the country and returned after the end of apartheid described it as the classic “more things change, the more they stay the same” situation.

This is such a shame since the variety of cultures is a potential strength for this country (I avoid using the term “diversity” since its politically correct overuse in the U.S. has rendered it meaningless). It is particularly disappointing for Cape Town since the racial mix here is very different from that of the rest of the country and more balanced. Whereas South Africa as a whole is 76% black, 13% white and 9% mixed-race, 56% of Cape Town’s 4.6 million people are of mixed-race, 22% black, and the rest white, Indian, or Malay. Given that I am ruled by my stomach (at least part of the time), I love the resulting varieties of food; from the seafood curry rotti I had at a Cape Malay restaurant, to the “stick-to-your-ribs” meat and sweet potatoes diet at a diner in a mixed-race neighborhood, to the heavenly seafood I had at an historic Afrikaaner home.

I believe that there is hope for South Africa based on three highly anecdotal examples. First, despite South Africa’s head-spinning ironies and contrasts, I witnessed a lot of constructive and positive attitudes. For example, the guide for our tour of Robben Island maximum security prison was himself an inmate for 14 years. His descriptions of the physical and psychological pressures put on him were heart-rending. I noted from his story that he was captured in Angola during the 1970’s by South African forces and the UNITA rebels (a faction in Angola’s civil war during the 1970’s). Twenty-four hours later we were in Kruger National Park with a guide who was a former paratrooper in the South African army that served (you guessed it) alongside UNITA rebels in Angola. And yet from listening to both of these men I would hazard a guess that they could walk into a bar and share a couple of beers without recriminations.

Second, despite the inherent inefficiencies of transforming an apartheid economy to one of more equal opportunity, one sees examples of excellence. The management and conservation efforts at Kruger National Park are world-class. This excellence extends down to the smallest of details. For example, I was astounded to find that a public restroom in the most remote part of Kruger would put the U.S. National Park Service cleanliness standards to shame. I hear examples of where other standards at South Africa’s parks may have fallen but Kruger overall is a very well run park.

But the real key to South Africa’s future is education and I was treated to an example of what is best about South Africa in Cape Town’s Turfhall Primary School. Economic growth is the engine necessary to absolve the legacy of apartheid and the key to economic growth is a quality education for as many South African children as possible. I certainly cannot infer the state of South Africa’s entire education system from this one example and the U.S. State Department’s describes the situation thus, “Education is in a state of flux. Under the apartheid system schools were segregated, and the quantity and quality of education varied significantly across racial groups. Although the laws governing this segregation have been abolished, the long and arduous process of restructuring the country's educational system is just beginning.” But Turfhall is not a private school in some upscale white Cape Town neighborhood. It is a public school located in a middle-class, mixed-race neighborhood where parents hold every Rand dear.

At Turfhall, Principal Calvin Theys and his staff have created an environment conducive for learning. Every surface on the facility is cleaned, painted, or gardened to perfection. It goes without saying that the bathrooms were spotless as Calvin was proud to point out! I observed a couple of classrooms and saw the children apply themselves in a disciplined, serious manner. I would be proud to have my four children attend the school. If anyone wants to know how to help South Africa’s future, contact Principal Theys at 011-27-21-691-9922 and have him tell you how your contribution to Turfhall would be put to good use.

Going forward I am hopeful that South Africa can avoid two traps. First, the former victims of apartheid must avoid either retribution or a focus on their victimization. I did not observe either of these during my short stay but one reads a lot about these issues in the local media. Second, those with the assets in this country must avoid sticking their heads in the sand and ignoring South Africa’s challenges – an attitude among a few white South Africans that I did observe.