Of course South Africa was better under Apartheid. Nelson Mandela, besides being a convicted terrorist, was a Castro ally and a Marxist. The country is a disaster because of his election.
The average lifespan during Apartheid was 64 years old. The current life span is 56 years old. South Africa is not just the rape capital of the world, it has 4 times as many rapes per capita as the 4th place country.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/398136/end-south-africa-josh-gelernter The per capita GDP is $5600. That is less than Cuba.
A way that would work would be to have someone like Pinochet takeover, or if possible someone like Lee Kuan Yew. Their current leader is pursuing the same policies as Allende did in Chile. The guy is confiscating land from white farmers (who are being exterminated) without compensation. The guy should ousted. The people of South Africa are too irresponsible for democracy. The results of Lee Kuan Yew and Pinochet speak for themselves. If you had a capitalist strongman takeover South Africa, people would be much wealthier, live longer, and actually have a future worth living.