Since
the end of apartheid, South Africa has been exporting many things
to other African countries it never exported before. South Africas
DStv dominates the airwaves across the continent. It is not unusual
to meet Africans thousands of miles away from Johannesburg who have
an intimate knowledge of Egoli, the South African soap opera. Security
companies run by South Africans are major players in the private
security market. On an unsavoury note, South African mercenaries
can also be found peddling the destructive skills they learned during
apartheid. At the same time, South Africa is also exporting another
commodity which stands in stark contrast to this, namely the promise
of a peaceful transition. The South African Truth and Reconciliation
Commission (TRC) is core to this. The concept is a benchmark of
how to build peace in many countries. Liberia is one of the more
recent recruits to the methodology, following Sierra Leone, Ghana
and Nigeria.
Liberia,
Africas oldest republic, from where I write this article,
has suffered terribly over the last few decades. Civil war which
started in 1989 has devastated the place. Locals refer to the various
bouts of fighting as World War I, II and III, and they are not far
wrong. It is estimated that over 200 000 people died, out of a population
of just over three-million.
Monrovia
still carries the scars. Ruined and bullet-marked buildings dominate
the capital.
A high
number of war-disabled people are visible on the streets. The average
life expectancy is just over 40. There is no mains water or electricity.
This has been the case since 1990, when Charles Taylors rebels
knocked out the electricity plant. When he became President in 1997,
he vowed to restore it but, instead, more war followed. Taylor,
who lost power in 2003, is now awaiting trial in the Hague for a
list of offences that could stretch from Cape Town to Cairo. Since
the end of Taylors reign, there has been some progress. Ellen
Johnson-Sirleaf, the first woman head of State in Africa, was democratically
elected in January. Reconciliation is high on the agenda and the
South African model is the talk of the town. Liberian truth commissioners
visited South Africa recently and are now beginning their own TRC.
But
what is it about the South African model that is so alluring? The
answer, despite the problems South Africa still faces, is that it
offers hope.
When
you drive through the streets of Monrovia, as someone not worried
about where your next meal might come from, over potholes and past
children playing in squalor, you, invariably, wonder what makes
people continue each day. The answer is simple they have
no choice. Families must be fed. But, despite daily struggles, people
also care about the bigger picture. There are over 30 newspapers
and dozens of radio stations. Talk shows are dominated by discussions
about hope for the future. The country wants its dignity back. The
image of South Africa is of a country that achieved political peace
through creating a common vision through compromise. We can debate
for eternity whether this has been realised or not, but the basics
are undeniable. A route was taken post 1994 that circumvented cycles
of retribution. Cycles of retribution destroyed Liberia.
So
whether the view of South Africa abroad is rose-tinted or not, it
is hard to dismiss some lessons. Of course, part of me wants to
run out on to the streets of Monrovia and proselytise about the
dangers of importing goods from another country that is still in
the throws of change. But, as I write, frantically hoping the generator
wont run out of fuel and crash my laptop that is probably
worth more than many peoples yearly income, I just dont
have the heart. And, after all, surely hope and the virtues of a
compromised peace are not the worst things to be selling.
Brandon
Hamber writes the column "Look South": an analysis
of trends in global political, social and cultural life and its
relevance to South Africa on Polity, see http://www.polity.co.za/pol/opinion/brandon/.
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