Throwing Copper, the album by the rock band, Live, was released on 26 April 1994, the day before South Africa’s first all-race election, making democratic South Africa and that album just about the same age.
But which has aged better?
Nobody who was on certain South African university campuses in the mid- and late-1990s would have failed at some point to hear Ed Kowalczyk’s somewhat nasal vocals, telling us our love is like water or that the old mother had died (nobody will ever accuse Kowalczyk and Live of writing lyrics that make all that much sense).
But a question that is worth asking is: which has aged better, Throwing Copper or democratic South Africa?
You’d be hard pressed to find a rock music fan of a certain vintage who doesn’t still listen to Throwing Copper from time to time. From that first mellow riff on Selling the Drama, to the energetic guitar, drums, and nonsensical lyrics on All Over You, to the hard-rock elements (and more nonsensical lyrics) on Stage, the album is still what could be described as a ‘banger’.
Democratic South Africa has aged less well.
Many of the elements that were put in place after the transition to democracy have shown that they are no longer fit for purpose.
Our electoral system – especially at national and provincial level – puts far too much power in the hands of party bosses rather than voters. Thankfully, it seems that there is a growing realisation in South Africa that our current electoral system doesn’t work and that it needs an overhaul. Indeed, the Constitutional Court has given Parliament until next year to amend the Electoral Act to allow for individuals, unaffiliated to a party, to stand for election to the National Assembly and the nine provincial legislatures.
Much of the thinking on this has been done already. For example, South Africa could easily use the proposal of the Van Zyl Slabbert Commission from the early part of the century to amend the electoral system. It suggested that South Africa adopt a mixed electoral system, with elements of proportional representation as well as a constituency system. At the same time, a number of proposals are being put forward at the moment by various civil society bodies and organisations on how to make our electoral system more responsive to the needs of voters.
Something else which has aged less well is the country’s commitment to non-racialism.
For a short – and somewhat golden period – between 1994 and 1998 South Africa had no laws based on race on the statute books. Since then there has been an increasing number of laws with a focus on race, ostensibly to uplift black South Africans. However it is not clear that these have worked. After a period when incomes and employment grew in the first decade of the century (primarily thanks to fairly sensible economic policies and robust global economic growth) unemployment and poverty – especially among black South Africans – has remained stubbornly high. Policies such as black economic empowerment (BEE), despite the lack of evidence that they work, continue to stubbornly be followed by the government.
In an environment of more stringent BEE enforcement over the past decade, it is telling that this has resulted in little change in the material circumstances of many black people. Equally telling is that, contrary to popular belief, inequality in South Africa has actually been on the decline in recent years. When broken down by race group, in-group inequality has also declined, except for black South Africans. They are the only group where inequality has increased. This probably indicates that the benefits of BEE are accruing to a relatively small elite – those who are already ‘insiders,’ which are often those with links to the government and the governing African National Congress.
The continued racialisation of our society has seen some bizarre and demeaning spectacles. These include Springbok Damian de Allende being questioned about what race he is to determine the racial breakdown of a Springbok squad, and Oudtshoorn teacher Glenn Snyman being charged with fraud (the charges were later dropped) for saying he was ‘African’ rather than ‘Coloured’ when applying for a job. This also means that someone who quite possibly has Khoi and San ancestry, making him a descendant of South Africa’s First People, is regarded as not being an African.
South Africa’s commitment to non-racialism has certainly aged less well than Throwing Copper.
The capability of the state has also aged poorly. In the first years of democracy the roll-out of services could be likened to the tracks Waitress or Shit Towne – unexpected after Lightning Crashes or Selling the Drama, but happily received.
The proportion of people with access to services such as clean water, electricity, flush toilets, and refuse removal, skyrocketed in the initial period of democracy. The proportion of people who live in formal housing has also grown rapidly, but like much else in the years since Jacob Zuma became president, this has also now stagnated.
Again, this is an area where the South African state has aged less well than Throwing Copper.
Crime is another area where we could argue that Throwing Copper has aged better than the democratic South African state. Although some would say some of Live’s later efforts were a crime against their earlier work, there is little room to be flippant about the phenomenon in South Africa.
After suffering from an extraordinarily high murder rate in the mid-1990s (in 1995/96 there were 68 murders for every 100 000 people) this had more than halved in the early years of President Jacob Zuma’s presidency. Since then, the trend is once again going the wrong way. This is the result of a combination of the hollowing out of the capabilities of the police service, political appointments, and the broader destruction of state capacity in this country over the past decade or more.
One could go on – the failure of the education system to prepare children for university and work after school is another area where Live’s magnum opus has aged better than post-2010 South Africa. Or the collapse in economic growth, which means South Africans have consistently got poorer each year since 2013. Or the continued exodus of companies from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and from the country in general, and what that means for tax revenue and the creation of jobs. Or the continued state failures, ranging from state-owned enterprises, to healthcare, and the maintenance of infrastructure.
That said, all is not lost. Post-apartheid South Africa can, like Throwing Copper, still emerge as something with staying power. However, it is not clear that the political will exists to make the hard decisions necessary to turn this country from its current path of continued economic decline. As long as policies such as expropriation without compensation, crony BEE, and other statist interventions (such as National Health Insurance) continue to be pursued, Throwing Copper will certainly continue to be judged as having aged better than the beloved country.
But don’t despair, dear reader. Open your favourite music app and play Throwing Copper (or if you are of a certain vintage, grab your copy of the CD) and get taken back to a time when it felt like South Africa was on the cusp of something great. And remember, we can get to such a place again, if ordinary South Africans work together to pressure those in power (whether at the ballot box through civil society or by just continuing to make a noise) to make the right choices and turn this country into a prosperous nation with opportunities for all.
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