曼德拉逝世 南非能否再起
摘錄自：天下雜誌 經濟學人電子報 2013/12/20
2013-12-09 Web only 作者：經濟學人
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| 圖片來源：flickr.com/photos/pcw/ |
在曼德拉的諸多成就當中，有兩項最為傑出。其一，他面對壓迫時展現的堅忍、寬大與尊嚴，是全球最能激勵人心的模範。他在監獄裡待了27年，只因為他相信人皆生而平等。在遭到囚禁的那些年，因為他的耐心、幽默和寬恕，在鐵欄後方的他，似乎比那些負責看守他的人還要自由。
其二則是那個已經接近奇蹟的成就，亦即他主導並帶領南非轉型，讓南非從狹隘和惡劣的代名詞，在某種程度上轉變為無視膚色、尊重所有人的彩虹之國。南非從來沒能達到曼德拉的標準，但這也顯示了這些標準是多麼地高。
曼德拉身為政治人物、身為人，當然也有存在著矛盾。他既不是天才、也非聖人，他早期的某些文章帶有平庸的馬克斯主義，雖然那些抱怨是出於合理的憤怒。但他的魅力在年輕時就已顯露，他是天生的領袖，不懼怕任何人、從不貶低自己、永遠保有幽默感，也不在意自己的膚色。在一個將種族優越神話納入法律之中的國家，他從未質疑自己的權利，也一直相信他的同胞應該獲得平等待遇。此外，等到多數公民獲得權利之後，他亦不曾拒絕給予白人同胞平等之權，即使他在1990年獲釋之前遭受了無數白人種族主義者的汙辱，他還是沒有受到仇恨驅使。他不抱偏見，正是他能在全球各地成為寬容和正義象徵的原因。
對南非來說，更重要的或許是曼德拉深思、改變心意的能力。他重獲自由時，許多非洲民族議會（ANC）的成員仍舊是蘇聯教條的忠心門徒。許多曼德拉的同志既是ANC、也是南非共產黨的成員，他們希望能完全打破資本主義經濟，將礦場和工廠收歸國有。ANC也不相信，遭種族隔離政策扭曲的西敏寺式國會民主，值得保留。
曼德拉心中也懷有這類疑慮，但就在他即將獲釋和獲釋後，他徵詢了許多人的意見，最後也作出了決定──大幅改變、但不完全摧毀南非現有的經濟模式，同時保留自由民主制度，對南非人來說才是比較好的選擇，特別是佔多數的貧窮黑人。
最終，南非真的在血腥對抗相對較少的情況下，成為多種族自由市場民主國家。那確實幾近奇蹟，全世界也該為此感謝曼德拉。南非讓曼德拉於1994年成為首任民選總統，曼德拉也讓南非成為更好的國家、成為人類尊嚴的捍衛者。自信的黑人中產階級正在興起，民主植基極深，選舉定期舉行，媒體十分活躍，還有相當不錯的法庭和強而有力的政府機構。此外，南非仍舊是次撒哈拉非洲最大、最先進的經濟體。
但在曼德拉於1999年卸下總統職位之後，他深愛的國家歷經了兩位非常糟糕的領導者：姆貝基（Thabo Mbeki）和祖瑪（Jacob Zuma）。其餘非洲經濟體崛起之際，南非卻只能踉蹌前行；ANC內部的貪汙和酬庸日益明目張膽；曼德拉深惡痛絕的種族仇恨侵入了公共論述；貧富差距依舊極為巨大。只有五分之二的工作人口有工作，只有60％的應屆離校者獲得最基本的高中文憑。南非擁有大量資源，但近三分之一民眾每天還是得依靠不到2美元過活。
ANC失去曼德拉的光環之後，將遭受更嚴格的評斷。ANC由於貪汙和缺乏效率，已然在南非部分地區面臨由白人帶領的民主聯盟的挑戰。如果ANC分裂，南非就會有兩大黑人帶領的政黨，其中一個由共產黨和工會領袖組成，另一個則更自由派、更親市場，這對南非來說是件好事。
ANC衰落並不是曼德拉的錯。或許他可以更明確地反對姆貝基對愛滋病的錯誤看法，或許他該更強力地反對祖瑪身旁的貪汙現象。而在外交方面，他對卡斯楚等過往的朋友實在太過忠誠，他也應該更明白地譴責毀掉了辛巴威的穆加比（Robert Mugabe）。
但這些缺失、以及他退休之後的南非衰落，放在曼德拉的總體成就之前，實在顯得微不足道。當今世界之中，實在很難再找到一個全球每個人多少都認得出來的人了，他就是個那麼了不起的人。（黃維德譯）
©The Economist Newspaper Limited 2013
The Economist
Nelson Mandela
A giant passes
By The Economist
From The Economist
Published: December 09, 2013
Dec 5th 2013, 22:22 by The Economist
The greatness of Nelson Mandela challenges us all.
AMONG Nelson Mandela's many achievements, two stand out. First, he was
the world's most inspiring example of fortitude, magnanimity and dignity in the
face of oppression, serving more than 27 years in prison for his belief that
all men and women are created equal. During the brutal years of his
imprisonment on Robben Island, thanks to his own patience, humour and capacity
for forgiveness, he seemed freer behind bars than the men who kept him there,
locked up as they were in their own self-demeaning prejudices. Indeed, his
warders were among those who came to admire him most.
Second, and little short of miraculous, was the way in which he
engineered and oversaw South Africa's transformation from a byword for
nastiness and narrowness into, at least in intent, a rainbow nation in which
people, no matter what their colour, were entitled to be treated with respect.
That the country has not always lived up to his standards goes to show how high
they were.
Exorcising the curse of colour
As a politician, and as a man, Mr Mandela had his contradictions (see
article). He was neither a genius nor, as he often said himself, a saint. Some
of his early writings were banal Marxist ramblings, even if the sense of anger
with which they were infused was justifiable. But his charisma was evident from
his youth. He was a born leader who feared nobody, debased himself before no
one and never lost his sense of humour. He was handsome and comfortable in his
own skin. In a country in which the myth of racial superiority was enshrined in
law, he never for a moment doubted his right, and that of all his compatriots,
to equal treatment. Perhaps no less remarkably, once the majority of citizens
were able to have their say he never for a moment denied the right of his white
compatriots to equality. For all the humiliation he suffered at the hands of
white racists before he was released in 1990, he was never animated by feelings
of revenge. He was himself utterly without prejudice, which is why he became a
symbol of tolerance and justice across the globe.
Perhaps even more important for the future of his country was his
ability to think deeply, and to change his mind. When he was set free, many of
his fellow members of the African National Congress (ANC) remained dedicated
disciples of the dogma promoted by their party's supporter, the Soviet Union,
whose own sudden implosion helped shift the global balance of power that in
turn contributed to apartheid's demise. Many of his comrades were
simultaneously members of the ANC and the South African Communist Party who
hoped to dismember the capitalist economy and bring its treasure trove of mines
and factories into public ownership. Nor was the ANC convinced that a
Westminster-style parliamentary democracy—with all the checks and balances of
bourgeois institutions, such as an independent judiciary—was worth preserving,
perverted as it had been under apartheid.
Mr Mandela had himself harboured such doubts. But immediately before
and after his release from prison, he sought out a variety of opinions among
those who, unlike himself, had been fortunate enough to roam the world and
compare competing systems. He listened and pondered—and decided that it would
be better for all his people, especially the poor black majority, if South
Africa's existing economic model were drastically altered but not destroyed,
and if a liberal democracy, under a universal franchise, were kept too.
That South Africa did, in the end, move with relatively little
bloodshed to become a multiracial free-market democracy was indeed a
near-miracle for which the whole world must thank him. The country he leaves
behind is a far better custodian of human dignity than the one whose first
democratically elected president he became in 1994. A self-confident black
middle class is emerging. Democracy is well-entrenched, with regular elections,
a vibrant press, generally decent courts and strong institutions. And South
Africa still has easily sub-Saharan Africa's biggest and most sophisticated
economy.
But since Mr Mandela left the presidency in 1999 his beloved country
has disappointed under two sorely flawed leaders, Thabo Mbeki and now Jacob
Zuma. While the rest of Africa's economy has perked up, South Africa's has
stumbled. Nigeria's swelling GDP is closing in on South Africa's. Corruption
and patronage within the ANC have become increasingly flagrant. An
authoritarian and populist tendency in ruling circles has become more strident.
The racial animosity that Mr Mandela so abhorred is infecting public discourse.
The gap between rich and poor has remained stubbornly wide. Barely two-fifths
of working-age people have jobs. Only 60% of school-leavers get the most basic
high-school graduation certificate. Shockingly for a country so rich in
resources, nearly a third of its people still live on less than $2 a day.
Without the protection of Mr Mandela's saintly aura, the ANC will be
more harshly judged. Thanks to its corruption and inefficiency, it already
faces competition in some parts of the country from the white-led Democratic
Alliance. South Africa would gain if the ANC split, so there were two big
black-led parties, one composed of communists and union leaders, the other more
liberal and market-friendly.
Man of Africa, hero of the world
The ANC's failings are not Mr Mandela's fault. Perhaps he could have
been more vociferous in speaking out against Mr Mbeki's lethal misguidedness on
the subject of HIV/AIDS, which cost thousands of lives. Perhaps he should have
spoken up more robustly against the corruption around Mr Zuma. In foreign
affairs he was too loyal to past friends, such as Fidel Castro. He should have
been franker in condemning Robert Mugabe for his ruination of Zimbabwe.
But such shortcomings—and South Africa's failings since his retirement
from active politics—pale into insignificance when set against the magnitude of
his overall achievement. It is hard to think of anyone else in the world in
recent times with whom every single person, in every corner of the Earth, can
somehow identify. He was, quite simply, a wonderful man.
©The Economist Newspaper Limited 2013
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