By Gloria Herman  | Officially, South Africa's apartheid regime ended in the 90's, but, the majority of the population will not put it to rest and move on. They refer to it constantly even though there is much muttering of "going forward". Unfortunately, when the ANC came into power, they made so many promises that were completely unrealistic and unsustainable. Among them were free housing, jobs in managerial positions, and everything of the best that so many of the people had been deprived of for so long.

What was never expressed was that nothing comes as a freebie; it has to be earned with education, time, and experience. Building for the future was not the traditional way that things were done. If you planted a crop, when it was ready to harvest, there was food to eat, the attitude was why to bother to plant seeds for the following year, you had enough to eat for now and that was all that mattered. Next year was in the future, it would look after itself!

When next year arrived and there was a food shortage, surely the government would provide?

Slowly, South Africa began to transgress. There was little or no maintenance for electricity, the pipelines, or the roads in most provinces. The rest of Africa was starting to see the light and progressing while South Africa only stagnated.

Corruption became the norm, you gathered as much for yourself as you could in any way possible, and you certainly didn't worry about your fellow man. Commerce slowed and unemployment rose with today the ratio for unemployed people officially quoted as being over thirty per cent. School leavers and university graduates are battling to find jobs. The country needs more artisans but with trade schools closed several years ago, electricians, plumbers etc have to rely on what their employers - those that can find employment - can teach them. Many of the experienced European employees in state enterprises were offered retrenchment packages so that the up till now underprivileged people could take over their jobs, whether trained for the particular positions or not. This, unfortunately, did not help the South African economy which started to slide on a downward trend.

The bright people, keen on bettering themselves and their lifestyle, worked their way up the ladder and achieved. Many of the others were prepared to be content and see what could be given to them instead of making an effort at entrepreneurship. Constantly, Apartheid is blamed for their present lifestyle and lack of success.

South Africans, must rise out of the past, change their passive attitude and make the endeavour to progress and succeed in the modern world.

My name is Gloria Herman and I find that writing about the happenings around us is very inspirational and a tonic for the soul. Life is so interesting and I find that I can can never gain enough knowledge.

Travel and writing are two subjects that for me have become a way of stimulation.