南非的最佳選擇

The most plausible way to clean up the rainbow nation is to back Cyril Ramaphosa

清理彩虹之國最合理的方法是支持西里爾?拉馬福薩(Cyril Ramaphosa)

詞匯

Plausible/貌似真實的，貌似有理的

rainbow nation/彩虹之國(指南非，因其多種族、多文化而得名);

Since the days of Nelson Mandela, one of the most e?ective slogans of the African National Congress (ANC), South Africa’s ruling party, has been “a better life for all”. The contrast with the old apartheid regime, which promised a good life only for whites, has never needed spelling out. As the party that helped liberate black South Africans from votelessness and segregation, the ANC has ruled uninterrupted since apartheid ended in 1994, always winning national elections by wide margins. The trouble is, when one party has nearly all the power, the kind of people who seek power in order to abuse it and grow rich ?ock to join that party. Corruption, always a problem, became so widespread under Jacob Zuma, South Africa’s atrocious president from 2009 to 2018, that a more accurate ANC slogan during his rule would have been “a better life for the president and his cronies”.

自納爾遜?曼德拉時代以來，南非執(zhí)政黨非洲人國民大會(ANC)最有效的口號之一就是“讓所有人過上更好的生活”。舊的種族隔離制度承諾只有白人才能過上好日子，與之形成鮮明對比的情況從來就不需要闡明。作為幫助南非黑人從無投票權(quán)和種族隔離中解放出來的政黨，非洲人國民大會自1994年種族隔離結(jié)束以來一直管理著南非，總是以巨大的優(yōu)勢贏得全國大選。問題是，當(dāng)一個政黨幾乎擁有所有的權(quán)力時，那些為了濫用權(quán)力和發(fā)財致富而尋求權(quán)力的人就會成群結(jié)隊地加入那個政黨。腐敗一直是一個問題，在2009年至2018年南非殘暴的總統(tǒng)雅各布?祖馬(Jacob Zuma)執(zhí)政期間，腐敗變得如此普遍，以至于在他執(zhí)政期間，非洲人國民大會更準(zhǔn)確的口號應(yīng)該是“讓總統(tǒng)及其親信過上更好的生活”。

詞匯

apartheid regime/種族隔離制度

liberate/解放；放出；釋放

segregation/隔離，分離；種族隔離

As our special report in this issue describes, in those nine lost years Mr Zuma’s chums systematically plundered the state. Honest watchdogs were sacked. Investors ?ed, economic growth stalled, public debt soared and unemployment (even by a narrow de?nition) rose from 23% to 27%. Eskom, the bloated, looted national electricity ?rm, can no longer reliably keep the lights on or factories humming. Corruption has crippled public services. Many South Africans are frightened of their own police, and nearly 80% of nine- and ten-year-olds cannot read or understand a simple sentence.

正如我們在本期特別報道中所描述的，在過去的9年里，祖瑪?shù)拿苡褌兿到y(tǒng)性地掠奪了這個國家。廉潔的監(jiān)察人員被解雇了。投資者逃離，經(jīng)濟(jì)增長停滯，公共債務(wù)飆升，失業(yè)率(即使是狹義的失業(yè)率)從23%上升到27%。臃腫不堪、被洗劫一空的國家電力公司埃斯科姆(Eskom)已無法可靠地維持電力供應(yīng)或工廠運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)。腐敗損害了公共服務(wù)。許多南非人害怕他們自己的警察，將近80%的九、十歲的孩子不能閱讀或理解一個簡單的句子。

詞匯

Watchdogs/看門狗；監(jiān)察人；忠實的看守人

bloated/?發(fā)脹的，浮腫的；傲慢的

?

Yet there is hope. Mr Zuma is gone, narrowly ousted by his own party and now charged with some 700 counts of corruption. His replacement as party boss and president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, is an honest reformer. He is also a tremendously skilful politician—he was one of the chief negotiators who persuaded the apartheid regime to give up power long before it would have been forced to. At elections on May 8th voters have a choice. Do they back the ANC again, trusting that Mr Ramaphosa will continue to clean up the party and revive the nation? Or do they give the opposition a chance? (They cannot vote directly for the president; he is chosen by parliament, in which seats are allocated by proportional representation.)

然而，希望還是有的。祖瑪先生已經(jīng)走了，他以微弱選票差額被自己的政黨趕下臺，現(xiàn)在被控大約700項腐敗罪行。他的繼任者西里爾?拉馬福薩(Cyril Ramaphosa)是一位誠實的改革家，現(xiàn)任南非黨主席兼總統(tǒng)。他也是一位非常有技巧的政治家——他是在武力強(qiáng)迫種族隔離政權(quán)放棄權(quán)力之前通過說服使得種族隔離政權(quán)放棄權(quán)力的首席談判代表之一。在5月8日的選舉中，選民有一個選擇。他們是否再次支持非洲人國民大會，相信拉馬福薩將繼續(xù)整頓該黨，重振國家?還是給反對派一個機(jī)會?（他們不能直接投票給總統(tǒng);這是由議會選出，議會席位由比例代表制分配。）

詞匯

Narrowly/仔細(xì)地；勉強(qiáng)地；

Oust/驅(qū)逐；剝奪；取代

Parliament/議會，國會

The case for dumping the ruling party is strong. It has been in power for 25 years—too long for any party, anywhere. Despite Mr Ramaphosa’s e?orts, it is still stu?ed with crooks, some of them too powerful for the president to sack. Though home to a broad range of ideologies, the ANC has recently seen a worrying resurgence of far-left populism among its cadres. For example, it vows to change the constitution to allow the expropriation of farmland without compensation.

拋棄執(zhí)政黨的理由很充分。它已經(jīng)執(zhí)政25年了——對任何政黨、任何地方來說都太久了。盡管拉馬福薩做出了種種努力，但它仍然充斥著騙子，其中一些人太強(qiáng)大了，總統(tǒng)無法將他們解雇。盡管非洲人國民大會擁有廣泛的意識形態(tài)，但最近在干部中的極左民粹主義有著令人擔(dān)憂的死灰復(fù)燃跡象。例如，它發(fā)誓要修改憲法，允許無償征用農(nóng)田。

詞匯

Ideologies/意識形態(tài)

Resurgence/復(fù)活；再現(xiàn)；再起

Populism/民粹主義，平民主義

Cadre/干部；基礎(chǔ)結(jié)構(gòu)；骨骼

Compensation/補(bǔ)償；報酬；賠償金

The case for backing the liberal opposition, the Democratic Alliance (DA), is also strong. It is far cleaner than the ANC. Its charismatic young leader, Mmusi Maimane, believes in free markets. The parts of the country that it runs, including Cape Town and Johannesburg, are islands of e?ciency in a sea of murk and incompetence. Though the vast majority of municipalities are controlled by the ANC, a recent study by Good Governance Africa, a think-tank, found that 15 of the 20 best-governed were run by the da, alone or in a coalition. The Economist endorsed the DA in 2014.But this time, with deep reservations, we would cast our notional vote, at the national level, for the ANC.

支持自由主義反對派——民/主聯(lián)盟(DA)的群體也很強(qiáng)大。它比非洲人國民大會廉潔得多。其富有魅力的年輕領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人Mmusi Maimane相信自由市場。國家所掌控的包括開普敦和約翰內(nèi)斯堡，是一座在一片黑暗和無能的海洋中，充滿活力的小島。盡管絕大多數(shù)自治市都由非洲人國民大會控制，但智庫“良政非洲”(Good Governance Africa)最近的一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，在20個治理最好的自治市中，有15個由民主聯(lián)盟黨單獨(dú)或聯(lián)合執(zhí)政?！督?jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》在2014年支持民/主聯(lián)盟。但這一次，我們須深思熟慮，保留意見，并將在全國范圍內(nèi)為非洲人國民大會投下名義上的一票。

詞匯

Charismatic/超凡魅力的；神賜能力的

Murk/黑暗；陰沉，陰郁

Coalition/聯(lián)合；結(jié)合，合并

Municipalities/市民，自治市；