South Africans Brace for a Post-Mandela Future

As media organizations worldwide anxiously await news of the health Nelson Mandela, discussions about the former president’s legacy and who will inherit his mantel occupy the citizens of South Africa.

Writer Sean Jacobs says many of his countrymen are bitterly disappointed with the recent performance of Mandela’s African National Congress.

“For most South Africans, there’s this contradiction between an ANC with this great legacy, or if you want, a liberation movement, and then a movement that has governed South Africa and hasn’t done much,” Jacobs says.

Sean Jacobs grew up in Cape Town and now teaches at The New School in New York City. He writes the blog Africa is a Country.