Adults already know and play the mind games
Some adults do. I was bullied in elementary school, my parents' relationship seemed barely functional, and I'm pretty nerdy - I basically distrusted most humans until college (at which point my atrophied social skills had me believing I was autistic for a while) and I only started dating in grad school. I think I've made pretty rapid progress since, but needless to say I've made tons of rookie mistakes in the process.
The ANC - many of whom were imprisoned for fighting against Apartheid and speaking out in favor of equal rights - they're the ones in power now, and they're the ones responsible for passing this law. So yes, it is surprising. I'm not sure what ideological connection you're drawing here - the only thing the ANC has in common with the old Apartheid government is that they're both subject to human weaknesses like political corruption.
Saying "oh of course South Africa doesn't respect human rights, just look at how the Apartheid government behaved" is like saying "oh of course the USA doesn't respect human rights, just look at how the King behaved when it was part of the British Empire."
Believe me, my first 2-3 years of university were boring because I was self taught from the age of 14. It wasn't until the 400 series classes that things got interesting and new (and fun!)
That's why I ended up doing my B.S. in math and statistics instead of C.S. I'm still not sure that was the right decision in terms of impressing HR people afterward, but at least most of the stuff I learned was new to me, not to mention useful for areas like machine learning which straddle C.S. and stat.
Alternatively, aim for a society where your future employers have as much dirty laundry on the internet as you do. This gets easier with constant surveillance.
Let those without sin throw the first stone, etc...
I hereby proclaim this to be Sasayaki's law.
Sorry, but Muphry already took it.
Instead, Sasayaki's law could refer to incidences where one names a law after oneself only to find that it already has a name.
"I don't believe in sweeping social change being manifested by one person, unless he has an atomic weapon." -- Howard Chaykin