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September 17, 2000 The Daily Campus Two of the South Africa's most prominent leaders sat down with a group of UConn students yesterday to answer their questions about the country in its post-apartheid years. Frene Ginwala, speaker of the South African National Assembly - a position equivalent to the Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate - and Naledi Pandor, a member of parliament and chairperson of the South African National Council of Provinces - a position equivalent to U.S. Speaker of the House - were the honored guests at an informal breakfast yesterday morning in the South Campus Rome Ballroom. More than 30 students majoring in history or political science or with personal ties to South Africa got an inside look at the progress that has been made since apartheid ended in 1994. Ginwala and Pandor discussed the biggest challenges the country now faces, which still include overcoming racial inequalities between black and white South Africans. "One item of the most significance is the challenge of addressing poverty," Pandor said. "The majority of the population, which is black, is poor." Both Pandor and Ginwala said that while the government is attempting to address poverty issues, they are also trying to stay competitive in the global market. "What we're faced with is how do you make all these hard decisions," Pandor said. "The majority is poor and doesn't have the skills to allow us to grow in this global economy. We have made the decision to ensure that economic development remains part of the central core, but we have also been careful to invest in our people." Pandor has served on several educational committees, notably on the sub- committee on higher education in the Education Portfolio Committee. She told the students that one of the major factors holding back the country's economic growth is a lack of education and schools in need of upgrading. Black South Africans have generally worked as unskilled laborers, while white South Africans have worked in the state sector. While legislation in the past few years has opened up all fields of work to every South African, a lack of skilled laborers has kept the work force racially divided. "The division is also ethnic, not just racial," Pandor said. "We had 19 departments of education, depending on the ethnic group or color of the school." Today, there is one department with nine divisions and the government is working on changing the curriculum to encompass all of South Africa's history and not just white South Africa. There has also been a greater focus on math and science. Pandor also said schools are being renovated to include heat and hot water, luxuries that were typically only found in white schools. "We still continue to address the needs and the quality of education," Pandor said. "Educational change doesn't occur in five or 10 years, it's a generational change." The government is also working to educate adults on two levels. "A number of adults are illiterate, and they should be able to help their children study," Pandor said. "We've taken policy steps to ensure financial means are not a barrier, so our government provided significant funding to give loans for students who are poor." Both Ginwala and Pandor also acknowledged that a "social education" must also take place. "There are still divisions in black and white. The question is how do you maintain an inclusive society with racism so deeply entrenched?" Ginwala said. "While we have removed some laws, racism still exists." Andrew Miller, a student who lived for the first nine years of his life in South Africa, said when he visits his home country every year, he has recognized drastic improvements, but he still sees a majority of white South Africans with a distorted perspective of the apartheid years. "There is a gap between whites and blacks in their perspectives of what's happened historically," said Miller, who is white. "Many of them aren't even aware of the injustices that occurred ' " Ginwala agreed that this problem might be one of the largest challenges the government faces today. "The difficulty is they say, 'Yes, the apartheid is there,' but they don't recognize the new laws that are there," she said. "I'm not sure of how you can bridge the divide. Happily, there is a growth in twinning projects between schools of the privileged and the previously poor, and there is also an exchange and an engagement." Ginwala also said members of the opposing political parties need to set aside political agendas to be elected and make it a priority to educate their public following. "I don't know whether we as black people, as black leadership, can do it on our own," she said. "But, until the leadership of an opposition party, until that group of leaders acknowledges that they have a greater role to bring an awareness, we continue to struggle." The informal discussion is hoped to be the first of many educational interactions with South African representatives. Several more discussions are planned under the recently instituted partnership between the university and South Africa's African National Congress. The partnership, which began in March 1999, officially entered what officials
are calling "its second phase" yesterday, when it celebrated
its recent achievement of being awarded two grants totaling more than
$1 million. |