I picked the right semester to be here

Today, I'm feeling very lucky to be in South Africa. How many internationals have the opportunity to witness the changing of a still-young democratic government, by such radical but relatively safe means? The most political unrest in the country since 1994, and I am here to witness it (safely).

Just in case you've missed the news: last Saturday the ANC (South Africa's ruling political party since the collapse of apartheid) asked Thabo Mbeki, former ANC president and current South African president, to leave office before his term finishes in April 2009, because of questions about his involvement in the corruption trials of Jacob Zuma, the current ANC president (and the man who will most likely become South Africa's next president). Mbeki assented fairly quietly and will be stepping down officially tomorrow (Thursday). In the last two days, 10 other government ministers (most of Mbeki's cabinet) as well as the deputy president have also resigned, also official as of tomorrow. This puts South Africa in a potentially perilous position: suddenly, the country which is only 14 years and two presidents out of such a crippling system as apartheid is faced with having no president and, even worse, no governmental officials. Just saying the words sounds terrifically scary: I'm living in a country with no president and no government.

But the hopeful thing is this: the economy built up by Mandela and Mbeki together over the last 14 years, the stability of the democracy for which South Africans fought side by side for so many years, is proving itself strong enough to handle the supposed blows of such a radical governmental change-over--even in the wake of such recent violence as the xenophobic attacks last spring, even in the face of what some here call "Afro-pessimism"--the idea that Africa is doomed to always be a more violent, dangerous, third world continent--even in the face of a multitude of government officials being charged with various corruption scandals (even the hint of which would not be tolerated in America, as has been seen again and again), even with the highest crime rates, rape rates, and percentage of AIDS victims in Africa (and the world?). ANC deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe will be sworn in Thursday as temporary president until the elections in April 2009.

And I get to live here while history is being made.

The amazing thing about South Africa is its ability to hope and its capacity for inspiring hope in other people. Yesterday afternoon I had the privilege of hearing Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu speak in Stellenbosch's Faculty of Theology (I'm still on a high...). His message focused on the youth of South Africa, and how they--and older South Africans, as well--need to focus on the progress that has already been made; they need to look at the leaps and bounds they've already made as a people since apartheid. He spoke of youth as being gifted with idealism and hope--a gift, he said, that had to have come from God. "God gave young people the gift of idealism. He says to you, dream. For when you dream, you are dreaming my dream". Tutu is an amazing and wise old man. Adorable, too. He randomly bursts into giggles, and he made his audience laugh for several minutes at a time so he could hardly speak. And the best part: AIFS has arranged for us to go and hear him say an Anglican church service in Cape Town Friday morning, a far more intimate meeting than yesterday's press-and-other-famous-folks-attended ceremony. I don't really do the celebrity obsession thing, and I don't particularly care for the word "hero", but I greatly admire Tutu and the incredible wisdom with which he's worked and helped South Africa grow in the last 50 years, both spiritually and as a whole people.

I am so lucky to be here right now. :-)

CNN's take on the political situation:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/09/21/south.africa.mbeki.resigns/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/09/23/south.africa.resignations/index.html

My favorite Tutu quote from yesterday, which is slightly unrelated to the above: he was describing the political struggle of apartheid and how emotionally and spiritually devastating that was for some people. We never doubted that God was in charge, he said. "We knew He was in control. But when things got tense, sometimes I wanted to whisper in His ear (mimes reaching up and pulling God's ear down towards him) 'God, we know you're in charge. Please...could you just make it *slightly* more obvious?'".