A South African sent us a description of how depressing life for even the well-off has become in that beautiful country:

Every day, we have to endure four hours — in separate two- hour sessions — of no electricity. South Africa has now endured fifteen years of load-shedding, and there is no end in sight. Massive corruption and incompetence have destroyed Eskom [South Africa’s state-owned and only power utility]. The consequences for business are dire. Who will invest in a country that is plunged into darkness for four hours every day?

Really, life in this land of ours is pretty depressing. The infrastructure of Johannesburg is collapsing— potholed roads, litter-laden streets— and it is all ghastly.

Everywhere, physical decay is visible.

The Johannesburg Art Gallery is leaking, poorly guarded, and penniless. I have not visited it for decades.

For vacancies in  departments of schools once held in high esteem for their academic excellence, new appointments are brazenly advertised as “transformative posts” — by which is meant, white candidates, however well qualified and however experienced, need not bother to apply. “Decolonizing” of content, ranging from geography to English literature, is officially under way. Even private school English departments that remain dedicated to teaching the classics of the Western canon are condemned by “transformation committees” as reactionary, regardless of the excellence of their pupils’ examination  results.

Recently there were floods in the east-coast province KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).

The floods in KZN were horrendous – over 400 fatalities. The lack of maintenance of any kind under the ANC, let alone any development, is appalling. And still the “woke” idiots in charge screech on about pronoun use and critical race theory.

An article by Gerbrandt van Heerden in the Daily Friend confirms the accelerating decline with this information:

Skills are in short supply in South Africa.

According to immigration specialists Sable International, load-shedding and a failing electricity grid are among the reasons why skilled people are leaving the country.

And there are other causes of the shortage and the exodus:

An obvious cause is the country’s abysmal education system. Poor educational outcomes have increasingly led to a skills mismatch in the South African economy. While the country’s industries require high skills, the education system is producing a low- to semi-skilled workforce. Despite the poor performance of mostly government run schools, no clear plan has been articulated on how to fix the education crisis.

Corruption and nepotism have resulted in poor services and decaying infrastructure.

Harmful government policies, such as BBBEE [Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment  – quotas based on the old apartheid racial classifications!], make it increasingly difficult for the small pool of talented workers we still have to remain in the country. Parliament recently began public hearings on the controversial Employment Equity Amendment Bill. Proposed changes will enable the labour minister, in consultation with the stakeholders of a particular sector, to set numerical sector-specific employment equity targets. [“Sector-specific” = compulsory quotas of “underprivileged” groups.] Companies that fail to comply with the targets can be fined between 1% and 10% of turnover and will be disqualified from doing business with the government. Businesses are reluctant to expand at all if they are forced to hire staff on a basis that does not allow consideration of skills and experience. So this will further accelerate the skills flight from the country.

Despite the warnings from many experts, civil society groups, and healthcare professionals themselves, about the disastrous effects of nationalizing the healthcare sector, government has once again recommitted to the policy. The South African Medical Association (SAMA), which represents 12,000 medical doctors in South Africa, stated that thousands of its members will emigrate if the NHI is implemented. A survey conducted by SAMA showed that as many as 38% of its members plan to emigrate from South Africa due to the planned introduction of the NHI.

Some of the occupations in demand include architects, chemists, civil, industrial and mechanical engineers, economists, software developers, tax professionals, and maths and science teachers. Expatweb’s latest Critical Skills Survey, based on a sample of 220 businesses, indicates that businesses find it difficult to recruit engineers and ICT [Information and Communications Technology] specialists. Banks, retailers and businesses are fighting over the limited talent pool.

The shortage will have serious implications for South Africa’s political stability and economic sustainability. It will discourage business confidence and the ability of businesses to expand. This must increase unemployment, already at a record high level, and diminish further the dwindling taxable population. Yet the government shows no will to effect the reforms necessary for the growth of skills.

The corruption, the incompetence, the decline is gathering pace.

South Africa is hurtling to its fall.