“It starts off with a broad rundown of the politics since Mandela’s release…Then it finally takes the gloves off.”
“This documentary takes a good bird’s eye view and will answer the questions for those who have been more focussed on their rugby team.”
Con Nats
3 / 5 Springboks
There are a few documentaries looking at different aspects of post-apartheid South Africa, and Good Hope takes a broad brush approach. As British-American director Anthony Fabian asks quite plainly upfront – what happened to South Africa after Nelson Mandela was released? He then goes about answering this question, without injecting himself too much.
We hear from people from all walks of life: journalists, artists, entrepreneurs, CEOs, mixed race couples, gays and even the Springbok captain, Soya Koilisi about their views on modern South Arica. It is interspersed with quotes from Nelson.
It starts off with a broad rundown of the politics since Mandela’s release, the AIDs disaster that Mbeki oversaw, the corruption of Zuma and his downfall. It moves onto the optimism of having such a large economy held back by corruption, and the need to improve education. It is seen as the key. At this point I felt it was a puff piece promoting investment into South Africa and a naïve look at this country. Then it finally takes the gloves off.
It takes a closer look at the scars of apartheid and how the whites have not paid their dues. In fact, the imbalances are still pronounced. They all talk about the racism, the divide, the role of women and the need to redistribute land, but in a much better way than Zimbabwe did. There are still major challenges facing South Africa, even though it has been 25 years since Mandela’s release. A populist racist third party has emerged which has grown out of this deep divide. The parallels to Australia and America are stark.
The best quip comes when it is discussed how so many whites fled to England, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, Writer Bongela muses “Imagine having a country which all the racists run to.” Yes, Australia. Imagine that.
In some ways, it disappointing so little has been achieved in a quarter of a century and there are some imminent political and economic challenges for South Africa. This documentary takes a good bird’s eye view and will answer the questions for those who have been more focussed on their rugby team.
