Are South Africans 'backward'? Zambia's white VP says so.
鈥 version of this post ran on the blog聽.聽The views expressed are the author's own.
South Africa is much more developed than its neighbors in the Southern African Development Community (). Economically, it dominates the entire region. Apartheid South Africa regularly intervened militarily outside its borders during the struggle against the African National Congress (ANC) and other liberation movements, thereby highlighting their neighbors鈥� weaknesses.
A consequence of South Africa鈥檚 disproportionate power and influence is that today it is often resented by other Southern African nations. Occasionally this breaks out into the open.
That happened in the aftermath of Margaret Thatcher鈥檚 funeral in London when, upon returning to Lusaka, Zambian Vice President Guy Scott publicly compared South African president Jacob Zuma to F.W. de Klerk, the last apartheid South African head of state, according to聽.
But he did not stop there. He also said South Africans are 鈥渁rrogant.鈥� Further warming to his subject, he continued: 鈥淭he South Africans are very backward in terms of historical development.鈥� I hate South Africans. That鈥檚 not a fair thing to say because I like a lot of South Africans but they really think they鈥檙e the bees鈥� knees and actually they鈥檝e been the cause of so much trouble in this part of the world.鈥�
He went on to say that South Africa鈥檚 blacks model themselves on white behavior now that they are in power.聽Saying out loud what many Africans say only after a few drinks, he continued, 鈥淚 dislike South Africa for the same reason that Latin Americans dislike the United States, I think. It鈥檚 just too big and too unsubtle.鈥�
He also denounced South African membership in the BRICS, a major policy initiative of President Jacob Zuma.
鈥淣obody would want to go in for a partnership with Brazil, China, India, and South Africa for Christ鈥檚 sake.鈥� He concluded with a bouquet for Zimbabwe鈥檚 President Robert Mugabe, telling the Guardian, 鈥淚鈥檓 sure any good African nationalist admires Mugabe.鈥� He also said that Mugabe would like to retire from the presidency.
The South African government says it is聽聽for the remarks from the Zambian high commissioner in Pretoria. In contrast, Zimbabwe is playing down the incident, commenting publicly that Mugabe is 鈥渃lose鈥� to Scott and Zambian president Michael Sata. Zimbabwe insists that it will not allow 鈥渢he media鈥� to shape the Zambia/Zimbabwe bilateral relationship.
The immediate cause of Scott鈥檚 ire appears to have been Mr. Zuma鈥檚 maneuvering over Zimbabwe鈥檚 upcoming elections in his capacity as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) designated聽.聽While Zuma is ostensibly operating with the mandate of SADC, of which Zambia is a part, in Mr. Scott鈥檚 view the South African president is trying to keep the other SADC states out.
Scott is hardly a typical southern African politician. Born in 1944, he is of Anglo-Scottish origin with a degree from Cambridge. However, his father was involved in anti-colonial journalism and Scott has liberation credentials. He is a fierce critic of white racism in southern Africa. He compared fellow students at a school he attended as a youth in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) as having the attitudes of the Hitler Youth. Scott, also a journalist like his father, established an important agribusiness and later served as the Zambian Minister of Agriculture. He became vice president in 2011.
