Abstracts

1 I congratulate the scholars in the Martindale Student Associates Honors Program at Lehigh University for their fine research work in this volume. I was honored to learn about these bright students’ interests in South Africa in Spring 2019 when the Martindale Center reached out to me, as Acting Consul General, and my colleague Consul Dion van Tonder during planning for the program. We were pleased to host the Lehigh team in South Africa’s Consulate in New York, and Mr. van Tonder was impressed with his discussions with the students and faculty while in Bethlehem. It is heartening to know that researchers, in particular emerging young scholars in the US, are keen to learn about our nation and people. We were happy to hear that our assistance was helpful in facilitating the program’s activities at the Embassy of South Africa in Washington, D.C., and at various ministries in Pretoria. The Martindale Program leaders and students are to be commended: the impressive 18-month program appears to have been jam-packed with meaningful opportunities. As thediversityof the timely and important topics of the articles in this volume suggests, South Africa is dynamic and complex, a still- evolving young democracy. The Martindale students’ visit was especially well timed: it coincided with the commemoration of 25 years of democracy in South Africa. As South Africa’s Ambassador to the United States N.C. Mfeketo reflected in 1994, “millions of hopeful South Africans, united in our diversity cast our votes for the first time for a new South Africa,” in so doing expressing “our hopes and aspirations for an equal, just, democratic and non-racial society in which all could live freely.” The youth of the Soweto uprising in June 1976 awakened the international community to apartheid, eventually leading to dismantling that repressive system in 1994. Those youth fought for equal and quality education for all. When the Lehigh scholars arrived 43 years later, our nation was amidst reflection on the great strides the country has taken toward addressing a host of challenging issues, such as race and equality of economic opportunities. Today, as several insightful articles herein point out, our young democracy’s constitution is unique in enshrining key socioeconomics rights, including universal rights to education, housing, and health care. I am glad to see these hard looks from outsiders’ perspectives at our progress on such core constitutional promises. Working to deliver on those promises, today’s government aims to provide opportunities for all South Africans to be educated and gain the skills to grow the economy. Government investment in the Technical Vocational Education and Training colleges and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme are some of the ways we are addressing the skills gaps. Those gaps and implications for schools and employment opportunities are the specific foci of two fascinating articles in this volume. Highlighted too are the important Black Economic Empowerment program and ongoing efforts tackling South Africa’s aging power infrastructure, land ownership reform, waste management, and food security. These 12 articles present a comprehensive exploration of modern South Africa. The student scholars have tackled some of the most vexing challenges and emerged with valuable insights and well-grounded suggestions. By taking a keen interest in our beautiful country’s socioeconomic challenges, the students unequivocally have become true friends of our nation, their actions echoing the words of the late South African antiapartheid revolutionary, political leader, philanthropist, and former President of South Africa (1994–1999), Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, “I like friends who have independent minds because they tend to make you see problems from all angles.” I am grateful for the solidarity evident in this volume and by the sincere interest in and deep exploration of our country. Congratulations to the Martindale Student Associates once again for such fine work. Gavin du Preez Consul South African Consulate General New York INTRODUCTION