Farewell South Africa, Hello New York!
By Paul Hoeffel
Secretary General welcomes Paul back to the neighborhood.
After five years of representing Rain Barrel in Pretoria, I have returned to New York City where it all began. It’s good to be back - New York is home - but disengaging from home and friends and daily life in South Africa is difficult. And New York is a different city from what I left.
We were fortunate to have been able to visit all nine provinces of South Africa during our stay in that beautiful, diverse country, traveling down highways that put New York’s to shame. Admittedly, once you leave the main highways and enter a small town or a township, the roads are likely to turn to dirt.
Such striking contrasts raised the question every day: how can a country with such a sophisticated economy and obvious wealth also have such poverty, neglect and deprivation that make life so difficult for most South Africans?
After my first year in South Africa, I felt I understood what was going on. During my last year, I realize how little I know, how complicated everything is, and how uncertain I am about the country’s future.
Yes, I recently got fiber optic service installed at my home but, at the same time, blackouts are a daily occurrence as the national electricity grid staggers from neglect and mismanagement. Some neighborhoods are without water for weeks at a time.
Public outcry about government corruption and incompetence is loud and clear – in the vibrant media and in the public protests. But the President laughs it off and impunity reigns.
The restaurants are full and the cars are new and big, but direct foreign investment and job creation are falling every year. The Black elite is growing, but will there be enough educated millennials to take over government and business and universities that require good managers before time runs out?
Mandela’s passing was the end of an era. The ANC has lost its bearings. People are angry and discouraged. Civil and labor unrest are intensifying. Xenophobia and racism color every encounter. The doomsayers are having a field day.
But South Africa has been on the precipice before. The economy is too big to fail, say some. Time after perilous time, the country dodges the bullet. These are tough, resilient people. But for the first time, I am not so sure it can continue to do so. I must now follow events from afar, and will take great pleasure if my pessimism is proven wrong.
New York is a city that seems to have lost its bearings. Or it maybe it’s me. Perhaps I am simply disoriented, buffeted by sticker shock as we try to find an apartment or have a simple meal out. So little value for money; such poor service everywhere.
In so many ways, the city has been handed over to investors, hedging their bets from precarious perches in Moscow, Beijing, Johannesburg and Sao Paulo. Ithas become a cultural playground, where absolutely everything is available for a price. And if you can’t pay up, you can simply leave, thank you.
How long can the City flourish given the inequalities that push regular people out, hollowing out our neighborhoods? Too big to fail, some say. The money will keep on coming. The restaurants are packed. The cars are new and big.
This great city, of course, has seen its share of ups and downs. It’s just hard to know which point of the cycle we’re at now.
Still, it’s good to be back in the fray, in the thick of things. It’s Rain Barrel’s corporate headquarters, after all, and face-to-face meetings with co-director Robert over good coffee and fresh bagels makes it all worth while. We are grappling with a world in transition. And puzzling over what the future holds. We are united in our conviction that Rain Barrel and our wonderful team of associates still have a lot to contribute.