VOA慢速英语:South African Economy Grew Over 20 Years

A new report is praising South Africa for its economic growth over the past 20 years. The report comes from the banking company Goldman Sachs. It decided to examine South Africa's economic progress since the end of white minority rule in 1994.
一份新的报告赞扬了南非在过去20年经济增长取得的成就。该报告来自银行业公司高盛。它决定研究1994年白人少数统治结束以来南非的经济进步。

Colin Coleman works for the company.
Colin Coleman在该公司工作。

"South Africa in the last year has tended to have a motional, somewhat negative reaction both domestically and internationally. And my view is that we needed to kind of get some perspective on the past 20 years as to what's been achieved in order to get a better balance in the debate," said Colin Coleman.
Colin Coleman说，“去年，南非国内外倾向于产生一个动态的稍微消极的反作用力。而我的观点是，我们需要怎样从过去二十年的成就中获得一些观点，以便在辩论中取得平衡。”

The report notes changes to the South African economy over the past 20 years.
该报告指出南非经济在过去20年的变化。

"When you look back at what Nelson Mandela inherited in May when he became president, it was really bitter pill, because you had an indebted nation that had no money. There was growing below-population growth with huge unemployment, huge racial disparities, a very volatile political social environment. Effectively, that gave way to a golden period of growth, low inflation, bringing the debt down and an extraordinary performance until the global financial crisis," Coleman said.
Coleman说，“当你回头看看1994年5月份曼德拉接任总统后，那真是一枚苦果。因为他接手的是一个负债累累的国家，该国的人口低增长率，大量失业，巨大的种族差异，一个非常动荡的政治社会环境。实际上，这最终让位于增长、低通胀、债务减少和成就非凡的黄金期，直到全球金融危机爆发。”

The report says the amount of money collected in taxes increased from $114 billion in 1994 to $814 billion. South Africans are not always happy about the direction of the economy, but business leaders and economists were pleased to see a long-term look at some of the improvements.
该报告称，南非税收总额从1994年的1140亿美元增长到8140亿美元。南非人并不总是对经济走向感到乐观，但商界领袖和经济学家很高兴看到一些成就的长远态势。

Joanne Yawitch heads the National Business Initiative, the organization works on efforts to help strengthening the economy.
Joanne Yawitch负责南非的国家商业倡议组织。以便帮助强化经济。

"There's often a lot of doom and gloom talk about South Africa, but what the report did point out is some fairly of significant achievements over the last 20 years. In particular, there has been an increase in productivity, an increase in employment, there has been a huge increase in the number of people in the middle class. Quite a substantial improvement in the quality of life of a great number of people," said Joanne Yawitch.
Joanne Yawitch.说，“谈到南非总是前景黯淡，但该报告实际指出了过去20年一些相当显著的成就。尤其是，生产力提高，就业增加，中产阶级人数增幅巨大，许多人的生活质量有了实质性改善。”

But the country still has problems. The report notes South Africa's education system continues to struggle, and the unemployment rate remains at about 24 percent. It says 70 percent of those jobless people are under age 34. There are also great racial inequality, especially in terms of earnings. The reports says 85 percent of blacks are poor, while 87 percent of whites are middle to upper class.
但该国仍有它的问题。该报告指出，南非教育体系仍要继续奋斗，失业率仍在24%左右。它说，70%的失业者年龄低于34岁。还有很大的种族不平等，特别是在收入方面。该报告称，85%的黑人都是穷人，然而87%的白人是中上阶层。

There have been criticisms of the report. Some people say it depends heavily on general information, not cultural evidence.
已经有人对该报告提出批评。有人说，这很大程度上依赖于一般信息而不是文化证据。

When Yawitch agrees with some of the criticisms, but she says the report shows the country has come a long way.
Yawitch同意部分批评，但她说，该报告显示这个国家已经取得长足进步。

"I think the reality certainly for me - I mean I grew up under apartheid and have spent 20 years in this democracy - is that life in South Africa is a lot better for most people than it ever was. But there are very, very big things that still have to happen. And I think that's what the report draws our attention to, is that it's a long journey and that we've made progress and must carry on," Yawitch said.
Yawitch说，“对我来说这就是事实。我的意思是，我在种族隔离制度下成长，并且在现在的民主中生活了20年。对大多数人来说，在南非的生活比以往任何时候都好了很多。但还有很多事情要做。而我认为该报告提醒我们，这是一个漫长的旅程，我们已经取得进展，而且必须继续下去。”