Tour

Almost two decades on from the end of Apartheid, South Africa is an amazing success story. It remains a multi-racial democracy and a regional power. But 18 years after Nelson Mandela helped bring the ANC into power, the party that fought so hard for change is struggling to meet the needs of its own supporters. Ordinary South Africans lack basic services, unemployment is high, and leading ANC members stand accused of corruption. First-rate speakers and guests brief us on the latest issues affecting the country, and ordinary South Africans of all backgrounds give their perspective, as we ask if the country can keep Mandela’s dream of a united, prosperous and democratic South Africa alive.

We have added an additional day to the tour to allow for extra visits. It is now ten days long.

Highlights of the tour include:

Analysis of rural development, and home visits

A visit to Jacob Zuma’s extensive new compound 

 Tour of Soweto new and old

 Visit to an SA mine – one of the key sectors of the economy

 Visit to The South African Stock Exchange

 Analysis of South Africa’s key problems from infrastructure to unemployment 

 Stays in some of South Africa’s best hotels, and meals offering the huge range of South African cuisine

Day One, Friday 24th January 2013 Durban. Dinner and overview

Welcome dinner. Local and international analysts give an overview of where South Africa stands at the beginning of 2013. The country’s politics, economics, intra-African diplomacy and a look at its place in global structures.

Day Two, Saturday 25 ^th North Coast to Tegula Ferry, Lebombo mountains, and Dundee

Drive north along sugar cane and dolphin coast to rural KwaZulu Natal for a visit to a local family. We hear about education, local services and healthcare. The battle against HIV and TB Lunch with local councillors, . Dinner with district councillors in Dundee.

Day Three Sunday  26th Dundee, Battlefields, Local Township

We visit Rorkes Drift, a key site of the Anglo Zulu wars. A key point in British colonial history, but also in Zulu culture and identity. Picnic lunch. Local farming; in this fertile area families are no longer able to provide for themselves, as people leave for the cities and HIV depletes communities. Dinner in Dundee and discussion about growing poverty in rural areas vs urban growth.

Day Four, Monday 27^th Drakensberg, Harrismith, Vaal River, Johannesburg

Visit to a local school before departure to Johannesburg. Lunch over looking the Drakensberg.  Then cross Vaal River to country’s financial hub, Gauteng, for dinner in Johannesburg with Don Ncube, ANC Sandton Branch chairman; political commentator Denis Beckett, Ann Bernstein, CEO of think-tank the Centre for Development and Enterprise, and Dr Paul Davis of the Aurum Institute.

Day Five, Tuesday 28^th City Council, Constitutional Court, Wits, Prison, Soweto

Early breakfast with Official Opposition leader Mike Moriarty, to examine Johannesburg, a city whose annual budget exceeds that of Botswana, Mozambique and Angola combined. Tour Constitutional Court building with its politically relevant art works, with a briefing on Court’s current political and judicial role. Tour of Old Fort Prison in the grounds, home for many political prisoners for years. Lunch at Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Drive to Rustenberg, dinner with geologist, platinum mine employers and workers.  Stay at Royal Bafokeng hotel, where facilities were purpose built for English soccer team for 2010 World Cup.

Day Six, Wednesday 29^th Mining politics, underground, Soweto

Breakfast at a platinum or gold mine, possibility of going underground. An explanation of how South Africa’s extraordinary mineral and metal resource wealth was laid down over billions of years, how long it will last and how difficult it is to get out of the ground. Mining guru Mike Solomon will examine resource taxation; from nationalisation to windfall and a wealth tax. In Soweto we visit key the Hector Petersen memorial, Winnie Mandela’s home, a school and Regina Mundi, a famous church that provided shelter during apartheid. Dinner in Soweto.

Day Seven, Thursday 30^th Fly to Cape Town: Parliament, Mayor, Khayalitsha

Flight to CT, South African Airways. SA 333 depart Johannesburg OR Tambo (JNB) 12h00 arrive Cape Town (CPT) 14h10 to Cape Town.  Flights are not included in the price as we are a land only tour operator. We can help you with the booking process.) Meeting with former President F W de Klerk’s foundation, scheduled visit to Premier Helen Zille and Mayor Patricia de Lille. Tour of Parliament. Dinner in Cape Town’s biggest township, Khayalitsha, with ANC leaders.

Day Eight, Friday 31^st  Cape Town, Hout Bay and Analysis

Visit the remarkable township on the slopes of Table Mountain at Hout Bay, speak to local activists, see local industry. Lunch is fish and chips on the rocks of Hout Bay, under Chapman’s Peak Drive, one of the most beautiful in the world. Dinner with veteran MP, radio personality, diplomat and commentator Peter Soal, who will answer all our questions.

Day Nine, Saturday Feb 1^st Peninsula, Wine Farms, Tourism Industry

Industrial unrest is more commonly associated with the Mid-Rand but workers at wine farms went on a violent strike to double their pay in 2012. What do they think in 2013? A first-hand look at how the wine industry is doing. We also look at tourisms significant contribution to the SA economy. Lunch on a wine farm. Dinner in Cape Town with Kate O’Regan, highly respected former Constitutional Court judge and Deputy Chief Justice.

Day Ten, Sunday Feb 2

Final Day – Breakfast and departure for airport

Essential information

Further reading

Political Tours recommended reading list for the South Africa tour 2013 - Mandela's Dream

"After Mandela: The Battle for the Soul of South Africa" by Alec Russell

·  Publisher: Hutchinson (September 1, 2009)

·  Language: English

·  ISBN-10: 0091926017

·  ISBN-13: 978-0091926014

Mandela's Long Walk to Freedom is a must.

"An Inconvenient Youth: Julius Malema and the 'new' ANC" by Fiona Forde

•  Print Length: 304 pages
• Publisher: Portobello Books (September 6, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0094EPI96

 Alan Paton's Cry the Beloved Country is a universal tale of urbanisation and of apartheid.

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; First as such edition (December 2, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 074326195X
• ISBN-13: 978-0743261951

"Khayelitsha: Umlungu in a Township" by Steve Otter is also an interesting (but non-essential) read about racial divides today.

• Publisher: Penguin Global (May 14, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0143025473
• ISBN-13: 978-0143025474

The Madonna of Excelsior by Zakes Mda, a novel that looked at inter-racial relations in the 1970s but tells an interesting tale.

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Picador (February 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312423829
• ISBN-13: 978-0312423827

There are current biographies of Cyril Ramaphosa and Thabo Mbeki, and there's also a slew of books on SA politics for the Christmas season.

Web sites

SA Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA.org.za)

Center for Development and Enterprise (cde.org.za),

CDE has an excellent series of policy papers and also has useful reading lists for those wanting a more in depth or academic assessment of economics and development in South Africa.

SA Institute of Race Relations (www.sairr.org.za/)

The best place for reading about the day-to-day political debate is http://www.politicsweb.co.za/

There is The Daily Maverick as an unusual and informative irreverent site.

http://dailymaverick.co.za/

This is one view of what’s happening in the Marikana –Lonmin dispute:

http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page72308?oid=339442&sn=Marketingweb+detail&pid=90389

For a more academic approach it is worth while seeing some of the papers published by the South African Labour and Development Research Unit – SALDRU.