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VOA标准英语2009年-South African Poor Protest Conditions

时间:2009-11-05 08:20:25

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(单词翻译)

By Delia Robertson
Johannesburg
27 October 2009

 
Protester fires sling1 shot during clashes with police in Standerton, South Africa, 15 Oct 2009 
For at least three years, as the country's winter months begin to bite, poor South Africans have taken to the streets in increasingly violent protest, frustrated2 at what they see as government failures to address their needs. This year, those protests have continued well into warm weather.

They are usually called service-delivery protests and the unstated implication that people are protesting because the South African government has failed to deliver services such as electricity, water, sanitation3, health services, homes and even land.

However, the issues underlying4 specific protests are often much more complex and may include corruption5 - perceived or real - in a local municipality, competition for land or resources, skills development, and even disputes between different groups in a particular community.

Regardless of the over-arching reason offered for a particular protest, a common thread in all protests also seems to be poor communication. Steven Friedman director of the Center for the Study of Democracy, is one of several experts who argue that many protests are less about delivery of services than about the failure of government at all levels to know exactly what it is that people want. "But if you for example look at the history of attempts in south Africa since 1994 to address poverty and deprivation6, the biggest problem in the last fifteen years has been the fact that government just doesn't know what people want and what people need," he said.

Friedman, whose center is an initiative of Rhodes University and the University of Johannesburg, says the failure in communications goes even further, he says government departments are not informing communities about plans for those communities.

"In many cases, let me say, in the current protests people are not even complaining about not having a say, although I am sure they would like one, they are complaining about not being given basic information. It is pretty common for people to say, well they never tell us what they are doing. Well it is not above government's capacity to tell people what they are doing," he said.

Sbu Zikode is the president of Abahlali base Mjondolo, an organization of shack7 dwellers8 based primarily in KwaZulu-Natal. He also tells VOA that many of the protests result from a failure to communicate by government departments - whether to inform or to hear what communities say. He says this comes down to a failure to recognize the humanity of the poor. "So what we have seen, is that the humanity of the shack dwellers in particular has been seen, communities have only been seen as the passive receivers of services; people who do not count, people who do not matter in our society," he said.

Both Friedman and Zikode note that the current national government led by President Jacob Zuma has appeared to shift its approach and is far more open to dialogue than in the past. A minister spent a night in an informal settlement, minister and senior politicians from the ruling African National Congress, ANC, have been dispatched to hot spots.

Even the president made an unannounced visit to Siyathemba township in Balfour in Mpumulanga province. He told protestors his government will be changing the way it responds to problems in poor communities.

"And I thought it was important for me to come physically9 on my own, to hear, to see, to check, to hear what the people are saying, so that we can see how we address those issues. And [it] is an ongoing10 thing, there is no place that is going to be hidden that I am not going to go to, to check so that places like Balfour, which seem to be very remote, that is the places I am going to be going to unannounced, all the time, to get to know what are the problems, why can't we deliver certain things," he said.

Mr Zuma's promise has had at least one consequence he may not have anticipated. In a particularly violent protest earlier this month in Sakhile, a township near Standerton in Gauteng province, protesters were even more angered when their demand to speak directly to the president was turned down, and they warned there would be no order in the township until that happened.

The protests and the depth of the problems faced by poor South Africans often leads to a perception that little or no progress has been made since 1994 to improve their lives. Friedman and Zikode hasten to point out this is not the case.

The government has built over 2.6 million houses and provided subsidies11 for another three million. Millions more now have clean water on tap in their homes, access to a nearby health clinic, and schools for their children.

Protests usually begin as the cold winter months draw in, causing greater hardship in poor households with no heat and hot water. But this year the protests have continued well into the warm weather. Some observers say this is a consequence of the recession caused by the global financial crises. Others say over-ambitious promises made by Mr. Zuma's ANC in the run-up to a general election in April, resulted in unrealistic expectations among the poor.

In his mid-year budget presented Tuesday to parliament, new finance minister Pravin Gordhan reported that South Africa has lost 500,000 jobs in the past 18 months, and that revenue collection for the year is expected to be down by $9.3 billion.

Gordhan said the situation would be worse if the country had not entered the period of global recession on a strong foundation with a budget surplus, but warned that South Africans will have to rise to extra-ordinary heights to meet the needs of their fellow citizens, especially the poor.

"We must prepare to do extraordinary things - the ordinary will not deliver the jobs that are sought by young school-leavers, shelter for those who are homeless, training for those who need skills, new opportunities for businesses in difficulty, or an environmentally responsible development path," he said.

And if Zikode and Friedman have their way, that effort will also have to include an extraordinary improvement in communications between government officials and the people of South Africa.


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1 sling fEMzL     
vt.扔;悬挂;n.挂带;吊索,吊兜;弹弓
参考例句:
  • The boy discharged a stone from a sling.这个男孩用弹弓射石头。
  • By using a hoist the movers were able to sling the piano to the third floor.搬运工人用吊车才把钢琴吊到3楼。
2 frustrated ksWz5t     
adj.挫败的,失意的,泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 );挫败;使受挫折;令人沮丧
参考例句:
  • It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
  • The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》
3 sanitation GYgxE     
n.公共卫生,环境卫生,卫生设备
参考例句:
  • The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看,这个地段非常糟糕。
  • Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。
4 underlying 5fyz8c     
adj.在下面的,含蓄的,潜在的
参考例句:
  • The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
  • This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。
5 corruption TzCxn     
n.腐败,堕落,贪污
参考例句:
  • The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
  • The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。
6 deprivation e9Uy7     
n.匮乏;丧失;夺去,贫困
参考例句:
  • Many studies make it clear that sleep deprivation is dangerous.多实验都证实了睡眠被剥夺是危险的。
  • Missing the holiday was a great deprivation.错过假日是极大的损失。
7 shack aE3zq     
adj.简陋的小屋,窝棚
参考例句:
  • He had to sit down five times before he reached his shack.在走到他的茅棚以前,他不得不坐在地上歇了五次。
  • The boys made a shack out of the old boards in the backyard.男孩们在后院用旧木板盖起一间小木屋。
8 dwellers e3f4717dcbd471afe8dae6a3121a3602     
n.居民,居住者( dweller的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes. 城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • They have transformed themselves into permanent city dwellers. 他们已成为永久的城市居民。 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 physically iNix5     
adj.物质上,体格上,身体上,按自然规律
参考例句:
  • He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服,心绪也很乱。
  • Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。
10 ongoing 6RvzT     
adj.进行中的,前进的
参考例句:
  • The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
  • The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。
11 subsidies 84c7dc8329c19e43d3437248757e572c     
n.补贴,津贴,补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
  • Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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