Nelson Mandela

=== Domestic programmes ===
[[File:Rdphouses.jpg|thumb|left|Houses in Soweto constructed under the RDP program]]

Mandela's administration inherited a country with a huge disparity in wealth and services between white and black communities. Of a population of 40 million, around 23&nbsp;million lacked electricity or adequate sanitation, and 12&nbsp;million lacked clean water supplies, with 2&nbsp;million children not in school and a third of the population illiterate. There was 33% unemployment, and just under half of the population lived below the poverty line.{{sfn|Meredith|2010|pp=518–520}} Government financial reserves were nearly depleted, with a fifth of the national budget being spent on debt repayment, meaning that the extent of the promised Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) was scaled back, with none of the proposed nationalisation or job creation.{{sfnm|1a1=Meredith|1y=2010|1p=519|2a1=Sampson|2y=2011|2pp=514–515}} In 1996, the RDP was replaced with a new policy, Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR), which maintained South Africa's [[mixed economy]] but placed an emphasis on economic growth through a framework of [[market economics]] and the encouragement of foreign investment; many in the ANC derided it as a [[neo-liberalism|neo-liberal]] policy that did not address social inequality, no matter how Mandela defended it.{{sfn|Barber|2004|pp=122–124, 162}} In adopting this approach, Mandela's government adhered to the "[[Washington consensus]]" advocated by the [[World Bank]] and [[International Monetary Fund]].{{sfnm|1a1=Muthien|1a2=Khosa|1a3=Magubane|1y=2000|1pp=369–370|2a1=Meredith|2y=2010|2pp=520–521}}

Under Mandela's presidency, welfare spending increased by 13% in 1996/97, 13% in 1997/98, and 7% in 1998/99.{{sfn|Houston|Muthien|2000|p=62}} The government introduced parity in grants for communities, including disability grants, child maintenance grants and old-age pensions, which had previously been set at different levels for South Africa's different racial groups.{{sfn|Houston|Muthien|2000|p=62}} In 1994, free healthcare was introduced for children under six and pregnant women, a provision extended to all those using primary level public sector health care services in 1996.{{sfnm|1a1=Lodge|1y=2006|1p=205|2a1=Meredith|2y=2010|2p=521}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ci.org.za/depts/ci/pubs/pdf/general/gauge2006/gauge2006_healing.pdf |title=Healing inequalities: The free health care policy |publisher=Children's Institute |access-date=15 May 2011 |author1=Leatt, Annie |author2=Shung-King, Maylene |author3=Monson, Jo |name-list-style=amp |archive-date=24 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724083745/http://www.ci.org.za/depts/ci/pubs/pdf/general/gauge2006/gauge2006_healing.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> By the 1999 election, the ANC could boast that due to their policies, 3 million people were connected to telephone lines, 1.5&nbsp;million children were brought into the education system, 500 clinics were upgraded or constructed, 2&nbsp;million people were connected to the electricity grid, water access was extended to 3&nbsp;million people, and 750,000 houses were constructed, housing nearly 3&nbsp;million people.{{sfn|Herbst|2003|p=312}}

[[File:Nelson Mandela 1998.JPG|thumb|right|Mandela on a visit to Brazil in 1998]]

The Land Reform Act 3 of 1996 safeguarded the rights of labour tenants living on farms where they grew crops or grazed livestock. This legislation ensured that such tenants could not be evicted without a court order or if they were over the age of 65.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nmmu.ac.za/documents/theses/AAFabbriciani.pdf |title=Land Reform Policies in South Africa Compare To Human Rights Internationally |access-date=11 February 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331101705/http://www.nmmu.ac.za/documents/theses/AAFabbriciani.pdf |archive-date=31 March 2012 }}; {{cite web |url=http://www.info.gov.za/gazette/acts/1996/a3-96.htm |title=No. 3 of 1996: Land Reform (Labour Tenants) Act, 1996 |date=22 March 1996 |publisher=South African Government Online |access-date=26 February 2013 |archive-date=26 February 2013 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6EiD8JvCc?url=http://www.info.gov.za/gazette/acts/1996/a3-96.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> Recognising that arms manufacturing was a key industry for the South African economy, Mandela endorsed the trade in weapons but brought in tighter regulations surrounding [[Armscor (South Africa)|Armscor]] to ensure that South African weaponry was not sold to authoritarian regimes.{{sfn|Barber|2004|pp=102–194}} Under Mandela's administration, tourism was increasingly promoted, becoming a major sector of the South African economy.{{sfn|Barber|2004|p=130}}

Critics like [[Edwin Cameron]] accused Mandela's government of doing little to stem the [[HIV/AIDS]] pandemic in the country; by 1999, 10% of South Africa's population were HIV positive. Mandela later admitted that he had personally neglected the issue, in part due to public reticence in discussing issues surrounding sex in South Africa, and that he had instead left the issue for Mbeki to deal with.{{sfnm|1a1=Barber|1y=2004|1pp=135–137|2a1=Lodge|2y=2006|2p=219|3a1=Meredith|3y=2010|3pp=571–573}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/jul/06/nelsonmandela.southafrica |title=Mandela at 85 |work=The Observer |location=London |first=Anthony |last=Sampson |author-link=Anthony Sampson |date=6 July 2003 |access-date=26 May 2008 |archive-date=26 February 2013 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6EiCWnTJS?url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/jul/06/nelsonmandela.southafrica |url-status=live }}; {{cite web|title=Can Mandela's AIDS Message Pierce the Walls of Shame? |publisher=Peninsula Peace and Justice Center |date=9 January 2005 |url=http://peaceandjustice.org/article.php?story=20050109125126110&mode=print |access-date=26 May 2008 |archive-date=26 February 2013 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6EiCWr1mK?url=http://peaceandjustice.org/article.php?story=20050109125126110&mode=print |url-status=dead }}; {{cite news|title=South Africa: Mandela Deluged With Tributes as He Turns 85 |url=http://allafrica.com/stories/200307190001.html |work=[[AllAfrica]] |first=Ofeibea |last=Quist-Arcton |author-link=Ofeibea Quist-Arcton|date=19 July 2003 |access-date=26 May 2008 |archive-date=26 February 2013 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6Eile2xQ7?url=http://allafrica.com/stories/200307190001.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Mandela also received criticism for failing to sufficiently combat crime; South Africa had one of the world's highest crime rates,{{sfnm|1a1=Meredith|1y=2010|1p=573|2a1=Sampson|2y=2011|2pp=510, 565–68}} and the activities of international crime syndicates in the country grew significantly throughout the decade.{{sfn|Barber|2004|pp=137–138}} Mandela's administration was also perceived as having failed to deal with the problem of corruption.{{sfnm|1a1=Meredith|1y=2010|1pp=544–547|2a1=Sampson|2y=2011|2p=510}}

Further problems were caused by the exodus of thousands of skilled white South Africans from the country, who were escaping the increasing crime rates, higher taxes and the impact of [[positive discrimination]] toward black people in employment. This exodus resulted in a [[brain drain]], and Mandela criticised those who left.{{sfnm|1a1=Barber|1y=2004|1p=131|2a1=Meredith|2y=2010|2p=573|3a1=Sampson|3y=2011|3pp=510, 565–68}} At the same time, South Africa experienced an influx of millions of [[Illegal immigration|illegal migrants]] from poorer parts of Africa; although public opinion toward these illegal immigrants was generally unfavourable, characterising them as disease-spreading criminals who were a drain on resources, Mandela called on South Africans to embrace them as "brothers and sisters".{{sfn|Barber|2004|p=133}}