The Importance Of Foreign Aid For South Africa
To understand why foreign aid is important, there is a need to understand what it is first. Foreign aid is the transferral of goods and services between international settings to benefit another country’s population. Foreign aid is definitely needed in South Africa as the percentile of people contracting diseases and illness are gradually rising due to low healthcare and poor sanitation. According to Statistics South Africa’s (Stats SA), mid-year population estimates 2018, “the total number of persons living with HIV in South Africa increased from an estimated 4,25 million in 2002 to 7,52 million by 2018.” This number alone significantly shows how rapid incurable diseases are spreading throughout S.Africa and aid is needed.
Foreign aid from outsider countries is needed as due to the corrupt government, South African society is not being provided with the supplies and medical support they need to live a sickness-free life. More nurses and doctors, clean food and drinking supplies and materials for better, safer shelter are needed to bring up not only their Human Development Index status (HDI), but this will also benefit patrons' view on life and raise their 106th position on the World Happiness Report. The South African Society Government and independent organisations together have requested that by 2020, $310,500,000 be implemented from foreign aid to combat the main health issues such as the spread of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, fix the declining education system and help decrease the increasing corruption in the government.
In 2013, South Africa demanded one of the largest sums of money they’ve ever needed: $488,777,000 to especially go towards health services and education networks. This was due to the South African National Government having one of the darkest years yet; political threats, corrupt leadership and links to the CIA, and rumours surrounding economic factors had overrun the parliament when the South African citizens needed them most. S.A’s civilization was ignored and neglected when they had one of the highest HIV/AIDS rates ever for the country; 20.4% of the entire population. 44.6% of all children in South Africa dropped out in 2013; the highest dropout rate ever, due to poor facilities and inadequate staff. This is why on the graph above, Australia’s foreign aid had skyrocketed to the highest it had ever been in 2013; to help provide support to those countries, like S.A, that needed it most to combat these issues.
Currently, the country has asked for more as more still needs to be done. ‘The Economist’ has commented on South Africa saying “A shocking 27% of pupils who have attended school for six years cannot read, compared with 4% in Tanzania and 19% in Zimbabwe. After five years of school, about half cannot work out that 24 divided by three is eight.” This shocking statistic clearly shows how crucial foreign aid still is; so that South Africa can fix their declining education system and be able to help all struggling as education plays a large part in life; helps with employment, healthcare and the economy. Children as young as 10/11 are missing out on fundamental building blocks of life through education - so shouldn’t someone want to change that for the future? These donations will help address social, political and educational challenges faced by all ages of South African society.
This money would target innovative approaches for reform and improve efficiency, helping South Africa rebuild a strong, supportive democracy and improve the lives of its people. This will dramatically change how the government currently acts upon education and healthcare and will implement strategies to improve services. If action isn’t undertaken now, thousands of people’s lives will suffer due to not getting enough health support and statistics of life mortality, illness and contractions will continue to worsen, as well as life expectancy rates that will decrease lower than they’ve ever been.
