Party Saturday night. Encircled in mountains looking out over a tranquil bay on a late summer’s evening in the bay that I used to call home. One of those perfect nights in paradise. I couldn’t really question why people who have the choice to live anywhere in the world, working for massive multinational corporations that would support their lifestyles wherever they chose to make home, would choose a quiet little bay at the far end of Africa.
The conversation meandered along the lines of what the hell it is about South Africa that makes it so damn sticky. I think this happens more in Cape Town than other cities in South Africa, but there’s something strangely addictive about this country.
South Africa is one of those places you fall in love with. It’s not one of those obvious, sensible kind of love affairs either. This IS a dangerous country, we all know this, no more needs be said. We don’t have the kind of infrastructure that gladdens the heart of anyone who enjoys decent telecommunications, reliable power, well administered health resources or public transport (if you think you should be doing the planet a favour by not driving your car everywhere – good luck to you!) But oh my goodness we have a VERY efficient 1st world tax collection system (PLEASE will Trevor Manuel go apply his power for good in other ministries now dammit!).
There is something compelling about the character of the place that makes us hungry for it when we’re away. If you’ve ever spent any amount of time away from South African shores you’ll know what I mean. Even if you ran away in terror, you’ll still feel the pang for home.
Touching down on the runway in Jozi (as badass & skanky as the city can be) is still one of the sweetest lump-in-the-throat feelings. The halo effect lasts even as taxis undertake you on the highway, passing pavements overflowing with a thousand kinds of non-biodegradable cheap Chinese imports hawked between bright veggies, indefinable diversity of goodies, foodies and heaving humanity. There is something really alive here.
What is the deeply more-ish something that makes ZA get under my skin? Yes SA Rocks, but there’s something only love could account for. If you’ve figured out what it is let me know, maybe we need to start a 12 step SAA group . “Hi my name’s Max & I’m an addict“.
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February 26th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
Been searching for those exact words, over in London and I am constantly trying to explain why I love home so much…
February 26th, 2007 at 4:06 pm
Tim, you are so right. I have traveled around alot and I totally agree with Max and the way she has put it through. I have already told her this but her writing is spot on and movingly descriptive!
Thanks for your comments… How long have you been in London for?
February 28th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
Max, I have found that it is really a case of “absence makes the heart grow fonder”. When i went abroad the great distance made me see things in a new perspective. This newfound insight will hopefully remain now that I am back in SA.
For me it was a clear case of South Africa being in my blood. I cannot describe it, I can only accept it.
No matter how I reason about the million reasons not to live in SA, I simply cannot deny that sense of belonging one gets when you step off the plane in Cape Town after the long flight from London.
Well done on a well written piece.
February 28th, 2007 at 11:05 pm
I agree with you 100% Imel. There is some unspoken affinity to this country, its not patriotism, its an affinity.
If you ever want to contribute something please email me!! editor@sarocks.co.za!
Thanks for your comment
March 5th, 2007 at 8:22 pm
You get morphed into a South Afrophile. Every pore on you skin then breathes South Africa. You stink of South Africa. It is a smell that you aquire over time. There is a sheen to you. You radiate and sweat beads and rivulets of South Africa. Your entire being is South Africa and you have eyes that have a special glint in them.
You don’t live in London and not miss home. I’d miss Outjo in Namibia if I lived in London and I have only ever driven through Outjo twice.
Each one of us in the South African diaspora has a tie still connecting us to South Africa. It is invisible. It is an emotional attachement that we are unable to cut or cast away. It is impossible to do so. Regardless of where it is we now live, we will never be anything else other than South Africans.
What keeps us being South Africans is our bond to the region, like a child to its mother we are and will remain tied to its peoples, it’s red earth, the high and lowvelds, the savannah, the politics, the life, the crime, the good and the bad, the animals, the wildness of it all, the music, the rythym, the vastness of its space, the big sky, the myriad nations, the uniqueness of iits inhabitants, their customs and histories, the tragedies, the wars and sufferings, the lore, the bounty, the glittering future and the vitality of the raw energy that bursts forth from all South Africans. South Africa pierces my heart each day and leaves me in wonder at what will be when I go home.
I am in love with the South African song. It is called life.
March 5th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
Thank you for an amazing and beautiful response! If you would ever like to contribute, please contact me via email!!
March 6th, 2007 at 7:47 am
iscatterling Robert you continue to startle me.. Nic’s right, amazing and beautiful indeed.
Thank you
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