A-SAfricaMandela

Though South Africa is the richest country in Africa, more than 2 million of its 40 million people are hungry, and nearly a third are illiterate.

State-run schools are being peacefully integrated, and 4.5 million poor pupils get a free sandwich daily.

Nelson R. Mandela was imprisoned in apartheid South

Yet even as age has edged him from view, Mr. Mandela has retained a vital place in the public consciousness in South Africa. To many, he is still the ideal of a leader — warm, magnanimous, willing to own up to his failings

Few nations that have made a transition to democracy have emerged with as solid a political system as South Africa's.

South Africa has many problems, such as desperate poverty and terrifying crime. But its suffering would have been infinitely greater absent the moral authority and democratic, inclusive spirit that made Mr. Mandela a giant as leader of the liberation movement and as President.

As a leader of the liberation movement who spent 27 years in prison, he could speak for South Africa's blacks. His authority allowed him to bully F. W. de Klerk, the last apartheid President, into taking A.N.C. demands seriously. He did not have to placate the more destructive factions in the A.N.C. After the murder of the beloved Communist leader Chris Hani in 1993, Mr. Mandela's calming speeches averted widespread violence. His conversion to market economics broke the taboo on such views inside the A.N.C., which had favored nationalizations.

The expectation which many had in 1994 that crime — especially violent crime — would decrease has not materialised. Crime figures for 1999 indicate that the number of recorded crimes is at an all time high.8 The increase in the overall number of recorded crimes, including the number of violent crimes, was greater between 1998 and 1999 than in any previous year after 1994.9 During the first three years after South Africa’s political transition in 1994, overall crime levels stabilised, albeit at very high levels of especially violent crime. The number of recorded crimes increased by 3% between 1994 and 1996. Over a similar period, South Africa’s population increased by an estimated 4%.

Not all crimes increased or decreased at the same rate between 1994 and 1999. Common robbery experienced the greatest increase of 121%. Residential burglary, assault with the intent to commit grievous bodily harm, rape and car hijacking all experienced increases of over 20%. Robbery with aggravating circumstances increased by 15% — approximately the same rate as the 20 most serious and prevalent crimes taken together. The number of recorded murders and car thefts decreased between 1994 and 1999 (figure 2).