South Africa Continues to Fall

The overthrow of Apartheid was hailed as a great moment in human history. In early 1990's, hoards of Western journalists ran up enormous expense accounts traveling to Africa to pen accolades to Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress as they took control of the country. In recent years, however, the Western media has generally avoided the subject of South Africa whenever possible. The reason: the country is falling apart.

Over the past ten years, crime has skyrocketed, the economy has soured, ethnic tensions have exploded (mostly between native African peoples) and, in general, South Africa has begun to resemble the rest of the continent - poor, mismanaged and violent.

The resurgence of savagery is just one more marker of the nation's decline.

Machete-wielding gangs in South Africa are mutilating young people to provide body parts for the traditional medicine market, an investigation has found.

The practice has brought terror to parts of South Africa, where it is estimated that at least 300 people are killed each year for the medicine, known as muti.

One victim was Fortune Khumalo, a boy of nine, who was attacked as he relieved himself in bushes.

His attacker sliced off his penis and testicles to sell to a traditional healer in Johannesburg, where body parts can fetch £250 and a human head up to £500, according to the research for Channel 4's Unreported World.

Machetes are really, really popular in Africa these days.