The Marikana massacre: What does it mean for Botswana?

To anyone who has lived through the era of apartheid, the horrible events around the platinum mines of South Africa's North West Province brought a dreadful deja vu that as the events unfolded on television, many millions of people of my generation felt that they should have been playing it in black and white, as though this were an impossible nightmare being relived from the worst days of Sharpeville and the Soweto Uprising.

These events are far more disastrous than just the tragic loss of life as they will have long-term effects for all South Africans and all of its neighbours. Following these events, commentators glibly looked at South Africa and said "nothing has changed". Shortly after the massacre, international ratings agencies stepped in and downgraded South Africa, and just last week, the Economist magazine was in effect writing an economic obituary for South Africa on its front cover.