South Africa
What I think of my country, which I am going to leave
Letter to vanlifers Caro and Fred @casquette_baskets_ontheroad during their visit to this wonderful country.
“You asked me what I think of South Africa. After living here for 37 years... I have seen a lot... I was 8 years old when I arrived, now my own children are in their twenties. But as for what the country is like today, well, here you go.
How beautiful South Africa is! We are lucky to have flora and fauna worthy of story books, and to be the cradle of humanity !
It's a country full of contrasts. Endless beaches, fertile farmlands, deserts, jungles, mountains, plateaus, hills, large flat spaces, rivers, lakes, torrents, savannahs, forests - drought, fog, floods - and then golden cities, financial capitals with hyper-modern architecture, fantastic cars, right next to shanty towns where their stock of labour lives. ... or all those little country towns divided in two for the well-to-do and the workers, rural towns that are falling apart, or those rural African villages on the very edge of misery...
It is a physically beautiful country, as is the rest of our planet. Because of its enormous size, we are fortunate to have several zones of climate, biomes, geology and altitude. It is a country that is still young in the history of mankind, and yet it has had time to experience some pretty strong history. This history is so special that the people who live here are so soaked in it that they are visibly different from the rest of the world's people. South Africans are unique, but they are just as warm, generous, creative, tough, and adaptable as any other humans.
But history has caused so much misery among many of them that the conditions in which they live have stifled all that is beautiful and left room for survival behaviours that have turned into egoism, belligerence, hatred, jealousy... All the worst of human behaviours coming to the surface.
So much so that for those who manage to make a living, and for those who have always had the privilege of living well, these unhappy beings make life unbearable. To prevent this behaviour, it would be necessary to make life happier for the majority, but it is very difficult to do so when there are so many evil-doers who oppose it, not on the surface, but with a knife in the back...
South Africa is a country in a fragile state, which could fall into total disaster just as easily as everything could work out to make it a real paradise! If we could get rid of the people who don't give a shit and take food from the mouths of the poor, if we could stop the violent crimes of baby rape, the epidemic of hijackings, the murder of old people on their remote farms, if we could restore the health of the electricity network, build houses for those who have been waiting for more than a quarter of a century, maintain the infrastructure of all communities, give a 21st-century education to all those young people who just want it. ... If only...
South Africans are eager to share the beauty of this country with foreigners. Its exotic dishes and hybrid languages. Its innovative and cutting-edge technologies. But what you hear about the country in the world's media doesn't make you want to come and see... It's hard to get good publicity when there's a small group of idiots who destroy everything and spoil all the efforts of others. Honestly South Africa is depressing, but it's so beautiful !”
OK come on, at this point, things can only get better, and then, you can always ignore what's going on around you, as I have done for most of my life here. It's easier to create a wonderful world for yourself when you're not looking out the window, and there are a lot of great opportunities and wonderful people here anyway :)
I'm leaving the country, but I'll come back often of course. If you want to see what I'm up to away from here, sign up for my newsletter! I write it in English and French and you can read both to improve your language, or choose the unsubscribe option for the language you don't want to receive. I really look forward to reading your comments, I hope to inspire and entertain you, and grow a community of nomadic-minded readers!
A nice article, very true but nothing we in South Africa dont know.
I hope your country eventually finds its way.