Why South Africa will survive Mandela

Every time Nelson Mandela gets sick the office gets tense as people look for news of Mandela’s death, and we have been getting tense about this for years because Mandela is an old man.

We read articles talking about how South Africa will turn to chaos the second he dies – yet how likely is this really? And doesn’t this scaremongering remind anyone else of say, 1994?

Now I am not saying we won’t mourn him but that part of what makes a great figure is what they build lasts, and I think South Africa will last.

The primary reason for this optimism is that having looked at our last budget, we aren’t falling for the same austerity nonsense everyone else is.

If you look at that hike in capital gains tax – it hits the stock market hardest. The bulk of the money made in the stock market is on existing shares, which doesn't create much in the way of jobs because a company only gets money from its new issues.

So it is a good strategy to get income from there and reinvest it in the rest of our economy – even though the pay-off won’t be as instant as the pain. We are also boosting money for education, even though that tree will only bear fruit in the fairly distant future.

We aren’t afraid to spend, we are thinking long term and that is the precise psychology we will need to tackle environmental issues like mine water acidification and uranium in our soil.

We have no plans to commit national harakiri the second Madiba is no more.

Despite the threat of the Information Bill, we have a strong media that is vocal and critical. It is when the press praises the president that you need to worry – because while the press is doing that the secret police are listening in on your phone calls.

While freedom of the press is under threat here, at the same time the Internet is becoming cheaper, and access is becoming more widespread. The Information Bill is draconian – but also swiftly losing relevance in a world of Wikileaks and global news venders.

We are making bids for major science projects, and planning our own space programs. Sure we have our protests and our unions can be ridiculous, but consider the freedom those two issues imply - freedom we didn't have previously.

Mandela didn’t fail our country, and our country will not fail him. We have made our errors as a nation, and we will make more, but we will survive so long as we keep the power to disagree.

The right Mandela fought for and won for all of us, the right that defines us and binds us.

We are not a country given to respect – and that is our strength. We are not one of these countries that jails cartoonists for unflattering portrayals of our president.

If you think of Mandela the image that comes into your head is him, laughing. It is that laughter that we will remember, and laughter never dies.