Seventeen years have passed and the apartheid era is over, but the legacy it left behind has prevented the rehabilitation and self-determination of South Africa. Unresolved security issues related to war crimes and HIV/AIDS are a direct cause of the failure to address the legacy mentioned above (Vercillo np). As early as 1947, increasing desegregation caused by the liberation of India and Pakistan helped spread racial equality. South Africa's Afrikaaner nationalists, led by Dr. Malan, believed that whites were a superior race and that blacks were a subjugated people; a threat in society that white people must be protected from. In 1948, when the Nationalists won the election, Dr Malan vowed to protect his people through his policies; apartheid (Lowe 340). This policy was much more structured than that implemented before the 1948 election. This separation of blacks from whites became more evident with the forced removal of blacks from rural areas to special reservations. Black residents of the city were also forcibly removed, but to isolated townships with distances deemed appropriate by the government. Transportation, basic public services such as bathrooms, hospitals, and churches were also provided separately for blacks (Lowe 340). Thanks to Nelson Mandela's victory in South Africa's first multiracial elections, which was believed to be rooted in his early political awareness, the nation was henceforth freed from its oppressive past. Therefore, South Africa should use the transition into the post-apartheid era to create positive changes in the political and social scene. The concept… at the center of the card… the veterans of the struggle, including his closest comrades, Oliver Tambo and Walter Sisulu, for him the liberation had come too late.” (Johnson 136) The end of Mandela's regime marked the beginning of a new one; the presidency of Thabo Mbeki. Thabo Mbeki immediately put his office to work dealing with issues relating to youth, gender equality, the disabled, HIV/AIDS, NGOs, and international relations (Johnson 137). He also implemented an elite-led foundation for the black middle class which is the Black Economic Empowerment policy (Cartoon 38). This policy, however, has failed to address the unskilled sector. It has also made South Africa the main focus of the continent's economic development, enticing most of Africa's foreign direct investment to spend money. Despite all this, Mbeki has been criticized for saying that the cause of AIDS is not HIV, but poverty (Meo np.).