A Visit Back in Time
                   ...and a Look to the Future
Join Professor Mary Joyce as she travels to the ever-changing country of South Africa

Mary Joyce, Gianneschi Professor of Nonprofit Marketing, recently traveled to Grahamstown, South Africa, as a participant in the seventh conference of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies. Here, she reflects on the differences that have happened in that country since her first visit 12 years ago.

My first visit to South Africa occurred in 1994, a half-year after apartheid ended. My husband and I were invited to teach a retailing seminar at the University of Cape Town’s School of Business. We flew into Johannesburg Airport, which at the time was the Jan Smut Airport. It was heavily policed, and as we disembarked, we noticed lots of broken glass and learned that a bomb had gone off just before our plane landed.

We quickly caught a flight to Cape Town, and were met by faculty members who escorted us to the School of Business, a separate building from the main campus further south. Our school was a former prison that had been converted, and we stayed at the hotel that was connected to the college. The college was surrounded by fences with barbed wire and broken glass to discourage crime. This architecture seemed to contradict the posh, Victoria Wharf shopping center, its neighbor.
           
Despite the military presence, and tight security, the spirit in 1994 was quite high, as the end of apartheid had many individuals hopeful about the new rainbow nation. Nelson Mandela carefully guided this nation toward peace, freedom and equality. His leadership was undeniable.
           
When we were invited to teach again in 1995, we saw tremendous changes that could be attributed to this leadership. For example, in one year Mandela had pushed for changes such as nonsmoking public spaces, equal rights for women and historically disadvantaged South Africans, and infrastructure changes (e.g., electricity, water, education and transportation). His hope was for a redistribution of wealth and an improved economic growth that would fuel employment growth and opportunities for all South Africans, but particularly black South Africans.
           
My husband and I visited the squatter camp, Khayelitsha, and the township of Guguletu to learn more about the entrepreneurs of Cape Town. These individuals had risked a great deal to operate spaza shops (spaza means camouflage).
           
These shops were ship containers that were filled with various products that people in the squatter camps and townships needed, and they were moved to various locations and identified by a Coca-Cola sign. Black South Africans were not able to own their own businesses legitimately, so they chose to serve their communities with these underground operations.
           
Shabeens, the equivalent of neighborhood pubs, also provided residents under apartheid a place to hang out and watch television. By 1995, these entrepreneurs owned their mini-markets and were legitimate businesspeople. Of course, they complained about government taxation, which seems to be a universal business complaint.
           
Flash forward to now . . . South Africa’s environment is less militaristic (particularly Johannesburg) and there has been a redistribution of wealth. A black South African middle class is growing in size, but unemployment, AIDS, crime and illiteracy continue to trouble the nation. John Kane-Berman[editor-in-chief of the South African Survey and Fast Facts, published by the South Africa Institute of Race Relations], a keynote speaker at the International Society of Quality of Life Studies (ISQOLS) conference at Rhodes University, indicated that South Africa’s efforts to empower black South Africans has been slow and the workforce is still not representative of the demographics in the area.
           
The informal sector continues to foster the greatest growth in South Africa, and the formal economy has grown in the area of services (e.g., financial, and retailing). South Africa has lost mining and manufacturing jobs to Asia, particularly China, and they would like to remedy this.
           
Unemployment, according to Kane-Berman, continues to be a huge problem with 4.5 to 8 million unemployed, depending on the definition of poverty used. When the “discouraged” are included (i.e., those who are unemployed, but not looking for work), the higher number is used.
           
From 1995 to 2005, black South Africans have had less formal housing, more electricity for lighting, less access to water in their dwellings and yards, less flush/chemical lavatories, more access to refuse removal, more access to television and dramatically increased access to telephones, particularly cell phones.
           
The ISQOLS conference addressed many of the issues described above since the theme was quality of life in developing countries. We heard some very good presentations on such issues.

MLJ

Rhodes University

Zulu dancers who entertained the conference attendees in Nelson Mandela Hall at Rhodes University.

Mary Joyce at the recognition awards with Peggy Schyns, left, from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands

ISQOLS group at Amakhala, a private game reserve. Amakhara means “land of many aloes"

A drink list from a restaurant in Victoria Falls (one $US = 100,000 Zimbabwe $)

Sunset on the Zambezi River in Victoria Falls

Mary Joyce and Victoria Falls guide Richard Siyabanda

Victoria Falls