A decade after Mandela's death, South Africa in 'decay'

A man is sits on the pavement in Khayelitsha township, near Cape Town, April 21, 2022. [AFP]

Peter Hain was a friend to Mandela and noted anti-apartheid activist whom apartheid security forces attempted to assassinate with a letter bomb in 1972.

"He would have been absolutely appalled at the decay in the country, the continued rampant corruption, including by some Cabinet ministers.... who are members of his once proud African National Congress," Hain said.

Many other ANC stalwarts and surviving Mandela contemporaries declined to comment.

However, one of the statesman's grandsons, Ndaba Mandela, echoed the view that Mandela would have been disappointed.

"Of course, my grandfather Madiba would have been very disappointed to say the least, to see what's happened with the current ANC, with this party that he loved so much," he said. "Do I think some of the party members are letting down the ANC? Of course they are. We have ministers who are on a feeding frenzy."

Lumkile Mondi, an economics professor at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, described what he said are the main problems facing South Africa today.

"Levels of unemployment are very, very high, at about 32.5%; more importantly, inequality has deepened. So has poverty. Infrastructure, whether it's water infrastructure, road infrastructure, energy infrastructure, has collapsed," he said.

Next year marks 30 years since the first democratic elections in South Africa and voters will head to the ballot box once again. Numerous polls are suggesting the ANC will lose its majority for the first time.