- Catherine White is a columnist for Kouga Express. She was born an bred in South Africa, but is currently pursuing her journalism career abroad. She writes opinion pieces on her experiences as a journalist working in Europe and visits to South Africa
Someone once told me: “No offence, but your country is a sh*t hole.” At the time, I looked at the surroundings: The poverty, the hunger, the desperation in Joburg CBD… I understood. I could see it. And I agreed. Because it was in the Joburg CBD! THAT is a sh*t hole. But my country… Eish! Let me tell you:
There is NOTHING like living abroad and entering South Africa. Passport control for Greek nationals in Greece has a long line of Greek people. In The UK, a line of pale Brits. In France, a bunch of French looking folk. In India, Indians. In Ghana, Ghanaians and so forth and so on. But in SA it’s a line of ALL NATIONS who are asked to present their “green mamba” upon entering.
On my most recent trip to SA, I have been privileged to fly across my ‘sh*t hole’ of a country. Again, I was reminded that we have the most beautiful skies in the world. Never ending…! An orange I have only ever seen a tinge of in Greece. Nowhere else in the world have I seen the skies collide the way they do at home: on the African continent, because I am African before I am South African. Our never ending beautiful free and open skies. They are much bigger here than they are in London.
Also! Aren’t South Africans just the best? We share random information with each other. We do this is in a way that is TOTALLY normal to us and has become part of our culture and identity. We also make sure not to linger too long. There is a mutual understanding. Very often it’s accompanied by humour. But certainly, we have no skaam in looking out for each other: “Hey aren’t you also flying Airlink? Seems the delay is over.” We also don’t shy away from saying our say when something is not right, without beating around the bush. And none of that pretentious and superfluous crap! “Excuse me Ma’am, may I ask if you would terribly mind potentially considering the possibility of moving your car ever so slightly.. “ Whereas: “You can’t park here!” But bear in mind that doesn’t apply to taxis. They have a different handbook.
In many parts of Europe, it’s uncommon for strangers to interact. I am not denying that they do, but it’s not the norm like it is in South Africa.
The woman next to me in the airport shuttle said: “Oh here comes another one…” sort of warning us that another person was going to be crammed in, even though it was obvious that there wasn’t space for a single sardine. Low and behold a miracle! Have you ever seen a video of 50 or 100 people climbing out of a South African taxi? Miracles happen in my country. Every. Single. Day. One day there is R10 billion. The next it’s gone. And nobody knows where it is!
Living in London, I enjoy a bit of English dry humour. That reminds me: dry white. Good wine! Something we have plenty of!.. And so I learn to appreciate every aspect of my culture.
There is one incredible quality I have noticed in South Africans since living abroad. Generosity! Even when people don’t have, they give. Sometimes they give their neighbours electricity! An entire community shares in the same illegal wiring. Now if that’s not generous, I don’t know what is. Seriously though when I talk of generosity, I am not merely talking about monetary aspects. We are some of the most selfless people on this planet. We look out for each other in a way the rest of the world won’t understand. We do it in the small ways. We share information, like flashing your headlights to warn of a road block. Or the guy on the aeroplane who pointed at the sunset, because he saw me capture a beautiful moment earlier on and thought I shouldn’t miss this one. We embrace one another. We are warm and our space bubble has room for yet another sardine. We are not scared of honesty. We can handle the truth. In many parts of the world, especially the UK, its common knowledge that South Africans often learn to hold back or ‘tone down’ as to be more accepted in society.
Landing from Joburg to GQ, as we hit the runway, we started taking off again. First time that ever happened to me! The pilots were so generous that we had 2 for the price of one – and we didn’t even know it.
Look, I’m not saying that I don’t love London, or my life there. I very much do! But I love my people and my country. And the skinny, skinny man who lives under the bridge in this sh*t hole. We love HARD! And I am proud. I am proud of my resilient nation.
And yes, Eksom se PUSH. And yes, we have potholes bigger than the craters in the moon and sometimes we burn down schools.. because the system doesn’t always work. And maybe it is a bit of a sh*t hole. But it’s my home. And it’s beautiful. The people are beautiful. All the people. Even the ones who are suffering: the ones who endure the most. They have the most interesting stories! They make us who we are: resilient. You can’t survive in this ‘sh*t hole’ if you aren’t. So no, I am not offended by the comment.
Let’s be resilient in this next election. And when it’s all over, hopefully the big boss won’t leave us in the dark. And if they do leave us in the dark, the stars in our beautiful African skyline will light our dinner tables.
