Rule of lawlessness 南非法治之战 | 经济学人中英双语对照精读笔记

译 / 乔灵儿（微信公众号：考研英语笔记）

选自20210717，Leaders

背景介绍：7月7日，南非前总统祖马因藐视法庭罪向警方投案入狱服刑。9日，其支持者在他的家乡夸祖鲁·纳塔尔省发起示威，要求释放祖马。抗议活动随后发展成暴力抢劫、纵火行为。

Rule of lawlessness

无法无天的统治

The worst unrest since apartheid underlines South Africa’s fragility.

种族隔离以来最严重的动乱凸显了南非的脆弱性。

apartheid 南非的种族隔离

lawlessness: the fact that laws do not exist, or are not obeyed or respected 不遵守法律；无法无天

unrest: a political situation in which people are angry and likely to protest or fight 动荡；动乱；骚动

apartheid: 种族隔离（前南非政府推行的政策）

underline: to show or emphasize that sth is important 表明; 强调

fragility: 脆弱

South Africa offers dry kindling for political conflagration. Unemployment and inequality are preposterously high. Many people lack food, power and running water, while members of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) gorge on graft. In the two years before covid-19 there were more protests than probably at any time in the democratic era. The pandemic, Africa’s worst if official statistics are to be trusted, has killed at least 65,000 people and plunged many more into destitution.

南非为这场政治大火提供了干柴。失业率和不平等程度高得离谱。许多人缺乏食物、电力和自来水，而执政的非洲人国民大会 (非国大) 的成员则贪污腐败。在新冠疫情爆发之前的两年里，抗议活动比民主时代的任何时候都要多。如果官方统计数据可信的话，这场疫情是非洲最严重的一次流行病，已经造成至少 65,000 人死亡，更多民众陷入贫困。

kindling: 引火物

conflagration: 大火；引申义为冲突；战争

preposterously: in a way that is completely unreasonable, especially when it shocks or annoys you 荒唐地；极不合情理地

running water: 自来水

African National Congress (ANC): 南非非洲人国民大会，现为南非执政党，简称非国大，是南非最大的黑人民族主义政党，也是南非跨种族的政党。

gorge (oneself) on: to eat a lot of sth, until you are too full to eat any more 贪婪地吃；狼吞虎咽

graft: the practice of dishonestly using your position to get money or advantages 贪污；受贿; 以权谋私

plunge ... into ... : to suddenly experience a difficult or unpleasant situation, or to make sb or sth do this （使某人/某物）陷入/遭受 （某种困难或不利局面）

destitution：赤贫

Yet the violence that has engulfed the country in the past week is not a spontaneous protest against such ills. It was incited, and in some cases perhaps instigated, by people close to the former president, Jacob Zuma. Their narrow aim is to have him released after his imprisonment on July 7th for contempt of court for refusing to appear before a judge-led inquiry into his corrupt reign of 2009-18. Their broader goal is to make the country ungovernable so as to undermine his successor, Cyril Ramaphosa. For South Africa’s sake, they must not succeed.

然而，过去一周席卷全国的暴力事件并不是针对此类疾病的自发抗议。它是由前总统雅各布·祖马关系密切的人煽动的（在某些情况下可能是发起的）。他们的狭隘目标是在他7月7日因藐视法庭罪入狱后能获得释放。他因为拒绝出席由法官领导的对他2009-2018年腐败统治的调查而被判刑。他们更广泛的目标是使国家无法治理，从而损害他的继任者西里尔·拉马福萨。为了南非，他们绝不能成功。

In some cases 在某些情况下

instigate 发起，鼓动

engulf: to have a very strong effect on a person, place, or thing 使陷入；席卷

ills: problems and difficulties 问题；困难

incite: to deliberately encourage people to fight, argue etc 煽动；鼓动；激起

instigate: to persuade sb to do sth bad or violent 唆使；煽动

contempt of court: 藐视法庭（罪）

successor: 继任者；接班人

Mr Zuma represents the ugly side of the ANC. His supporters either tolerate corruption, or avidly indulge in it. Mr Ramaphosa was elected to clean up the mess his predecessor left behind: a system of “state capture” that cost South Africa more than 500bn rand ($34.5bn), or about 10% of a year’s GDP. Mr Zuma’s cronies had looted budgets and subverted the bodies designed to check such abuses, including the police and prosecutors. Mr Ramaphosa has put clean, capable people back in charge of the tax and prosecution services. And judges are mostly honest and independent. For optimists, Mr Zuma’s sentencing symbolised South Africa’s renewed commitment to the rule of law.

祖马代表了非国大丑陋的一面。他的支持者要么容忍腐败，要么沉迷于腐败。拉马福萨当选是为了收拾前任留下的烂摊子：一个耗资超过5000亿兰特（345亿美元）的“国家俘获”体系，相当于南非一年GDP的10%左右。祖马的亲信掠夺了预算，并颠覆了旨在制止滥用职权的机构，包括警察和检察官。拉马福萨让清廉能干的人重新负责税务和检察部门。法官大多是诚实和独立的。对乐观主义者来说，祖马的判决象征着南非重新致力于法治。

avidly: 热衷

clean up the mess: 收拾残局

state capture: the fact of sb using their personal or professional status in order to influence political decisions to their advantage (South African English, disapproving) 国家俘获，是少数利益集团对国家机构施加不正当影响的一种大规模腐败形式

rand: 兰特（南非的货币单位）

crony: 朋党

loot: to steal things from shops or buildings after a riot, fire, etc.（暴乱、火灾等后）打劫

subvert: to try to destroy the power and influence of a government or the established system 颠覆，暗中破坏（现政府或现有制度）

sentencing: 判刑

That is why the bigwigs who profit from lawlessness are so desperate to thwart it. Many within the ANC still see Mr Zuma as their leader and his faction as their best chance for enrichment. Some police and spooks preferred the old, corrupt, ways, too. The weakness of the state is most acute in Mr Zuma’s stronghold of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), a province with a history of violence by Zulu nationalists, scores of recent political assassinations, and local mafias. Many Zulus believe Mr Zuma when he claims, speciously, to be the victim of a political witch hunt.

这就是为什么那些从纲纪废弛中获利的大亨们如此不顾一切地阻挠它。非国大内部的许多人仍然认为祖马是他们的领袖，他的派系是他们发财的最佳机会。一些警察和间谍也更喜欢旧的、腐败的方式。在祖马的大本营夸祖鲁-纳塔尔省（KZN），国家的软弱最为突出。该省有着祖鲁民族主义者的暴力历史，最近发生了几十起政治暗杀事件，还有当地的黑手党。当祖马似是而非地声称自己是政治迫害的受害者时，许多祖鲁人相信他。

bigwig: an important person 要人；大人物

thwart: to prevent sb from doing what they are trying to do 阻挠；阻碍

faction: （大团体中的）派系；小集团

spook: a spy 密探；间谍

stronghold: （某一生活方式、政党等）备受支持的地方；据点，大本营

assassination: 暗杀

mafia: a group of people within an organization or a community who use their power to get advantages for themselves 小集团；团伙；社会黑帮

speciously: 貌似有理

witch hunt: （对被认为持不为社会所接受或危及社会政见者的）搜捕，政治迫害

In the past week at least 72 people have been killed and 1,234 arrested. In Gauteng, the economic heartland containing Johannesburg, shops have been ransacked. In KZN there have also been attacks on vital infrastructure: telecommunications towers, industrial warehouses and lorries along a crucial highway to the port of Durban. Hundreds of businesses have been destroyed. The country’s biggest refinery has shut. Petrol, food and medicines are in short supply in KZN. Local citizens, some nervously clutching guns, others holding no more than their neighbours’ hands, are protecting their houses and shops.

在过去的一周里，至少有72人被杀，1234人被捕。在拥有（南非）经济中心约翰内斯堡的豪登省，商店被洗劫一空。在夸祖鲁-纳塔尔省，重要的基础设施也遭到袭击：电信塔、工业仓库和通往德班港的重要公路沿线的卡车。数百家企业被毁。这个国家最大的炼油厂已经关闭。夸祖鲁-纳塔尔省的汽油、食品和药品供不应求。当地居民，有的紧张地握着枪，有的只握着邻居的手，正在保护他们的房子和商店。

ransack: to go through a place stealing things and causing damage 洗劫；劫掠

lorry: 大卡车

refinery: 精炼厂；提炼厂

in short supply 供应不足

clutch: to hold sth tightly because you do not want to lose it 紧握

No more than 仅仅，不过是

Mr Ramaphosa’s response has been too slow. He must get a grip. The priorities are to restore order in Gauteng and KZN, and to stop violence from spreading to the other seven provinces. On July 14th the defence minister said 25,000 troops would be deployed, the largest mobilisation since the end of apartheid. Authorities must be given everything they need to go after ringleaders. The finance ministry needs a plan to rebuild the economy and ease the pain of the pandemic. The police minister and commissioner should be fired. Calls to release Mr Zuma to stop the violence must be rejected with the disdain such ransom notes deserve.

拉马福萨的反应太慢了。他必须冷静下来。当务之急是恢复豪登省和夸祖鲁-纳塔尔省的秩序，并阻止暴力蔓延到其他七个省。7月14日，国防部长表示将部署25000名士兵，这是自种族隔离结束以来最大规模的动员。当局必须采取一切措施去追捕头目。财政部需要制定计划来重建经济，减轻疫情带来的痛苦。警察部长和警察局长应该被解雇。释放祖马以停止暴力的呼吁必须遭到拒绝，并且鄙视这种要挟行为。

get a grip: used in order to tell sb to control their emotions 冷静点，控制住

ringleader: a person who leads others in crime or in causing trouble 罪魁；头目；元凶

commissioner 在英式英语中，表示“警察局长”

Some South Africans wonder if their state is up to the task. But the security forces have enforced covid-related restrictions, so they should be able to restore peace. The inspiring response by non-state institutions—business groups, grassroots charities, local reporters—is a reminder of the best of South Africa. The rioters and their sponsors want to destroy the rule of law. Mr Ramaphosa, and all patriotic South Africans, must uphold it. 

一些南非人想知道他们的国家是否能胜任这项任务。但是安全部队已经实施了与疫情有关的限制，所以他们应该能够恢复和平。非政府组织（商业团体、民间慈善机构、当地记者）鼓舞人心的反应提醒人们南非最好的一面。暴徒和他们的支持者想破坏法治。拉马福萨和所有爱国的南非人都必须坚持法治。

up to the task 胜任

grassroots: 基层民众；平民百姓；草根

“王不留说” 

作为非洲最大的经济体，南非经济一度欣欣向荣，种族隔离和平结束，更让人看到南非的巨大发展潜力。但可惜的是，最近30年，南非在有所发展的同时，却面临了更大的危机。

形式上种族平等了，但内部却分化了，贫富差距不断拉大，种族、阶层撕裂。

对政治的不满，对生活的不满，加上独特的国情，以至于一点小小的事情，都可能引发一场风暴，乃至大规模动乱。打砸抢烧，已经是常态。

动乱更摧毁人们信心，加剧彼此的对立，并为下一次动乱埋下了伏笔。

我想，如果曼德拉还活着，看到眼前这一幕，也会痛心流泪。

注：本文由乔灵儿翻译。原文版权归《经济学人》所有，内容仅代表作者观点,不代表“考研英语笔记”的立场和观点,译文仅供教育及学术交流使用。