South Africa: Arrested Development: The rise of infantilism in South African society

Since the birth of a democratic South Africa in 1994, there are a range of ‘isms that have had, and continue to have, varying degrees of currency and impact on our society. The favourite of the privileged classes and political-economic elites has, of course, always been capitalism while for a sizeable portion of the poor, alongside a few intellectuals and political activists (even within the South African Communist Party) socialism remains the preferred alternative. Some in our midst clearly still hanker for the repressive certainties of fascism and/or monarchism, while others endorse a more traditional communitarianism.