I have immense respect for John Robbie. When I worked at 702 I would get in to work at about 6:30 am and Mr Robbie would have been in the studio preparing for his show from about 3:30am. He is a smart guy who speaks his mind and has a firm opinion on things, sometimes to his detriment.
But nevertheless I listen to him and have done so for years on 702.
I am particularly intrigued by a podcast found on 702 of Robbie talking about crime in SA. Have a listen:
CLICK TO LISTEN TO PODCAST – right click save link as to download.
I think this is a very interesting topic. Should South Africans as a nation start to dispel some of the myths surrounding the crime in SA. Is it as bad as it appears to be in the international media? If it is, should we still be making a noise about it to alert foreigners? Is there a faction of South Africans who want this country to fail?
Much like the Jeremy Clarkson article that I blogged about last week, I don’t believe it as bad as everyone says it is, for everyone. I know that there is crime, I’ve seen it, experienced it and live with it everyday, much like everyone else. But I just think that South Africans have a way of over-exhagerating things to the extent that it becomes somewhat comical. Like the number of emails I get on a daily basis proving to me how bad crime is because someone’s second cousin’s sister’s aunt’s domestic worker heard from someone that the next door neighbour’s mother’s best friend was hijacked. I have to laugh.
But moreover, I have to promote SA, I have to give people my opinion and experience of this beautiful country and that experience is one of pride, triumph, strength of will to overcome crime, negative South Africans who bad mouth this nation without a valid point or reason and don’t try to help.
I choose to help SA succeed and think that we all should start.
Similar Posts:
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Popularity: 10% [?]
March 13th, 2009 at 11:50 am
With you 100% on that Nic, you hit the nail on the head again.
I hate those emails, and have started “replying to all” in vigorous defence of SA. It pains me to see that people take emails of strange and already funny things that happened in other countries and edit them to spread negativity about SA.
Like that email with the stupid (allegedly black) woman that supposedly rented a car to drive from JHB to Bloem and didn’t know how to drive a manual so she left it in first for the whole trip and the engine blew (how would she know how to take off using clutch control?), then the pics in the email show the cars in the background that all have EU plates.
Or the one about the cake with “and underneath that” written on it that supposedly happened at Woolworths (the email included a condescending made-up phone call between the caller and “stupid” Woolworths employee. I also saw it posted on another very popular SA blog the other day saying it happened at Pick ‘n Pay. Nuh-uh… http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2008/05/cake-that-started-it-all.html
Please everybody, before forwarding that crap on, visit http://www.snopes.com for five seconds.
I’d like to meet the person that gets those pictures and adds in all the colourful negative fluff relating to SA, changing the real and already funny story, around it and escort them to emigration myself.
March 13th, 2009 at 11:52 am
Hi again Nic.
Forgot to tick the “Let me know what others have to say” box on previous comment, pls tick it for me and delete this one.
Shot.
As usual, love your work.
March 13th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Nic, I think what we’re seeing is a peverse kind of defense mechanism in people. We ‘almost’ joke (“over-exhagerating things to the extent that it becomes somewhat comical”)about it because that trivilises it and allows us to continue functioning in a dysfunctional situation.
My view is that we have to be factually positive where we can without being blind to the truth. Heard a Mike Lipkin (the YES-man?)competitor disparage his (mike’s) blind positive approach once, saying: “If you’ve fallen off a sky-scraper, and you’re plunging to your death, screaming “YES, I will survive!”, is not going to help one little bit.
I think that’s our situation. Yes, we’re in the shit. We need to be creatively positive about the present and for the future, find REAL ways to get out, not compose a song about it, ffs!
That’s my 50 cents.
March 13th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
I agree that some people do take things to the extreme, and that they have nothing but negative things to say about our incredible country when there really is so much good to shout about.
When it comes to crime though, I don’t think we can possibly make enough noise about it. Hiding it from foreigners would shirk our responsibility to help keep them safe while visiting, and ignoring it here would be neglecting our responsibility to ourselves.
It IS as bad as it’s made out to be. I publish the crime stats for my suburb on our community precinct’s blog (http://farrarmereprecinct.blogspot.com) and we have multiple robberies, hijackings and thefts a month, not to mention the ‘smaller’ crimes. And these are just the crimes being reported to one of our local security management companies in one fairly safe suburb. We are not being picky here, this is WAY too much crime and until government sort it out, we need to shout from the hills about it.
March 13th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Well said!! I feel the same way. It’s perfectly alright to joke about certain situations we face here in South Africa but sometimes it gets a bit much. We live in an amazing country and until us as a nation change our mindsets, we are going to carry on the same way.
“The positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.”
March 13th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
To add to that: you can’t just sit back and wait for things to improve. You need to get up, be proactive and make a change! Have a look at my photography blog on South Africa and hopefully it will inspire some. http://www.iPicAfrica.com
March 15th, 2009 at 11:45 am
I am a bit confused. So Nick are you saying that one should forget the crime being reported by everyone and just ignore it. I wonder if you working for the ANC! ‘I hate those emails, and have started “replying to all” in vigorous defence of SA’ Nick why does sa need to be defended if it is so wonderful. Wake up and smell the roses dude. Its not about wanting to SA to fail. It is the fact that SA LEADERS AND OTHER AFRICAN LEADERS cannot govern themselves and cannot provide that safety and security and that any normal democratic country will provide for it people. Where is the so called democracy where leaders say’ we will rule till jesus comes’. Why do irrespective of where SAcan’s live in the world have to feel that its privilege than a right to vote. Ask yourself that simple question NICK! Is this a normal practice among democratic countries.
March 16th, 2009 at 10:18 am
South Africans have a history of spinning tall tales. Apart from shooting things and smoking, it’s possibly the most popular nationwide past-time.
Yes, there’s crime, yes, there’s horrible things done to innocent people every day, but it’s no different from the situations faced in the rest of the world. I’d say the situation has been blown out of every proportion by the alarmists and the raconteurs.
I wonder if our alarmism isn’t maybe a cause of all of this. If all you read, see and hear about is crime, wouldn’t it desensitize you towards commiting crime yourself? No snowflake in an avalanche ever felt responsible, and normal SA citizens are perpetuating that avalanche like crazy.
March 16th, 2009 at 11:05 am
I agree, we should all look at the positive reasons why we are still here. Send emails with positive experiences and blog about the things you love in South Africa. We live in Cape Town, I don’t have to say anything more.
March 16th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
I think that spreading positivity is a necessity. The fact that you wish to take a positive slant on South Africa “rocks”. If there weren’t people like you, and I was put in charge, you’d all probably stand at the tip of Africa and begin leaping like lemmings might if there weren’t those forcing everyone to to keep their chins up.
Nevertheless, we cannot move forward as a nation if we don’t acknowledge a) We have corrupt leaders who will lead corruptly b) we have a history of cyclical violence which permeates our consciousness (whether you like it or not) and which is not going to be smiled away and c) we are about to face an economic depression which will ultimately result in a higher unemployment rate and will no doubt lead to more, crime, drugs, murders etc. unless the government intervenes.
So now, I agree, perhaps there are some individuals who simply insist that this country shall bear no fruit and ought to simply just die. Well fuck them, obviously. Petty jokes about our crime rates which both you and Nick Jackson point to are are generally loaded with racism, are offshoots of many other forms of prejudice and insecurity which are more a testament to the white folk’s lingering, yet slowly eroding, superiority complex than they are a source of info on our perspective on crime.
*I’ve digressed I’m coming back*
Unfortunately crime is a reality, its as bad, if not worse than we think, (Talita will tell you tales of her days spent in the Court, your ears will burn) our news media is so biased and so myopic that it now only covers that which it thinks we ought to be concerned about, epic tragedies in neighboring countries, Zuma’s never ending story and Shaik’s unfair grounds for parole. Really, if we had to ask our friends, “have you been a victim of crime” and if even 2 out of 5 had to say “yes” well then we have a serious goddamned problem which simply will not be fixed by optimism, nor by verbally promoting our country – history will show that it is only by meeting such problems with active and tangible strategies at a governmental level or by sheer brute force that any progress is made. As my brother consistently reminds me when I sell South Africa to him (he lives abroad in order to follow his career in music) “its only fun and games until your brother is murdered” and he’s right.
I can name and I can recount the stories of those who have been victims of serious crime, not simply a house breaking, not just a thug on the streets of say London, but rape, child rape, gang rape, brutal murders – its not the nature of our crime but the fucking brutality that makes it so news worthy and herein lays our biggest problem if you are taking this whole subject from the level of promotion – how do you insist that this country is beautiful when you cannot guarantee the safety of your own parents?
I figure we have to do something, but I think we need to start getting vocal in those places where our comments matter – parliament, local council chambers and before podiums in front of enormous crowds…
Long comment _ too long…
March 16th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
“Cowardice asks the question: is it safe? Expediency asks the question: is it political? Vanity asks the question: is it popular? But conscience asks the question: is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor political, nor popular – but one must take it simply because it is right.”
–Dr. Martin L. King
Just a thought ….
March 16th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Nick, I need to concur with Hugan. I am also a bit confused here. I am concerned that you are becoming desperate in trying to make people focus on the positives, that you are now resorting to downplaying the shocking effects of crime.
Nick, sorry but no-one can “over-exagerate” crime. That is a very naive statement. Crime in SA is at shockingly high levels and should be reported as such. I challenge you to show me one article from any news source that reported on a crime that didn’t actually happen.
Nick, I have often said I respect your efforts, but perhaps you should not become desperate and downplay crime. There have been thousands of people (in 2009 only) that have been affected. I’m sure you respect that.
@ Wogan – with the utmost respect, unless I misunderstood your comments, I have no idea what your actual point is.
March 16th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
I refuse to buy my local newspaper, I no longer watch the news because all the negativity leads to a downward spiral in attitude.
No I am not digging my head in the sand. I just no longer wish to read about the bad stuff. I want some good stuff as well, and that I am not going to get from the media.
Crime is it a problem? Well yes it is I know people who have been victims recently. Can I say the country is corrupt and crime ridden. I don’t think so.
Many live in cages and fear of their own making. I walk the streets, talk to the people, go into the townships and find nothing but hospitality.
I find good people, I find happy people, I find sad people and pissed off people but to date no muggers, thieves or fear.
I refuse to be cowered by a few thugs. I know they exist but we the good people outnumber them by a vast proportion. It is time for you to take the streets back. It is time for you to live not in fear but with joy and bravado.
If you find the bad boys kick the shit out of them. Get a few law abiding folks to help, soon these cowards and thugs that attack little old ladies and single women on farms will run for their lives.
I live by the dictum that if I find a job seeker in my garden at 2:30 am my dogs are going to take a bite and I will swing the bat.
March 16th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
@hugen:
Hi Hugen.
Firstly, I don’t work for the ANC. If you click on my name you’ll see I’m an Information Architect for a digital media company.
Secondly, I did not say that one should forget the crime being reported by everyone and just ignore it. In fact, I didn’t mention the word crime at all.
What I was saying was that it upsets me when people receive news about something stupid that someone did in another country, and alter it to say it happened here; thereby spreading untrue negative propaganda about South Africa.
That just doesn’t make any sense to me. When it comes to that I believe SA should be defended, because (in my opinion) it is a wonderful country.
Hugen, I will admit that the level of crime in South Africa is unacceptably high. However, I have also been fortunate enough to visit quite a few “normal democratic countr[ies]” and have experienced crime there too. Democracy does not guarantee safety and security for people. Democracy does mean that everyone gets a say, that voting is a right (as confirmed by our Constitutional Court). That’s it, and that could possibly lead to a party ruling till Jesus comes.
Spreading untruths about things that just plainly didn’t happen here (which I proved in my previous post), that is about wanting SA to fail, and that makes me sad.
March 16th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
shit, when I started my reply Wogan’s comment was the last one…
*catches up
March 16th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
ST – I 100% agree with what you and everyone in SA has to say regarding crime: It’s there, it’s bad and it affects the nation. No doubt. I agree, again I’ll say it for effect, I agree that there is crime and it is violent and bad.
There is a “but” coming…
But… that is not all that this nation has, we are not a failed state because there is crime, we are a failed state when all we can talk about is crime, when all we can see is crime and when all we can focus on is crime. We need to acknowledge the problem and persist to try and rectify it as best as we can.
I am not blindly stating that there is no crime. I think that after 3 years of blogging on this platform my stance should be a default by now: Crime exists, I openly admit it, I read it everyday and experience it just like everyone else does, but if you want to read about it, read the news. I focus on results, solutions and debate surrounding things that are positive in SA.
Crime is not positive, corrupt leadership is not positive but as many people have mentioned to me it is not as clear cut and dry as that.
Doensn’t it grate you when you sit at a dinner, party, club, pub, at the robots, ANYWHERE and all ANYONE can discuss is how shit it is to be here, how bad the crime is, how etc etc etc etc. And that these are the people who have privileged backgrounds, have never set foot in a township, rural area or crime-ridden-poverty-stricken area of our country? It’s naive and it’s frustrating.
Unfortunately many people attack my standpoint as one of ignorance when the truth is that I make a point of trying to find as much fact surrounding the topics I speak of and write about. I know crime exists, you don’t need to tell me. But there is more to our nation than crime, there are other problems, other prides, other successes and innovations that make this country great.
We are not exempt from this nation-bashing, I get that, but what frustrates me is the incessant knocking that happens and never a good word to say. It bugs me because I always hear it from those who are least affected by the bad things in our country. Every country has nation-bashers but pride in one’s nation is key to a will to develop that nation to a point of success.
long comment, i know.
March 16th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
@ST
could you please clarify which of your comments are directed at Nic (no ‘k’) Haralambous and which are directed at me (Nick Jackson).
As I mentioned to Hugen, I did not mention crime in my previous post. Also, I did prove my examples with regards to the emails I mentioned. That’s all my first post was really about.
I have to concur with Guy McLaren tho:
“I know people who have been victims recently. Can I say the country is corrupt and crime ridden. I don’t think so.
Many live in cages and fear of their own making. I walk the streets, talk to the people, go into the townships and find nothing but hospitality.”
March 16th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Nick, my comments were at Nic, who has responded.
Nick, I respect you if you “want to walk the streets, talk to the people, go into the townships”, but I will not give you some hero-status for it. Maybe many other people also do that, not just a select few as you may think. Maybe others just don’t think they should.
But we still respect everybody for the choices they make.
March 16th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
I spent the first few years of my life in a little suburb called Montana in Cape Town. My early life was pretty much crime free. It was a safe place…The only problem was break-ins, never really any violent crime that I can remember. Break-ins were the result of Montana being situated bewteen two high crime areas(although I speak under correction when mentioning Gugulethu): Valhalla Park and Gugulethu.
At the age of 10 I moved to Mitchells Plain. Totally different story. All of a sudden there were problems like gangsters, gang fights, lots of gunshots at night, kids in primary school witnessed an execution style murders etc.
Well now 17 years since living there, the situation in the areas that I lived in in Mitchells Plain is not as bad as it was then. It’s still not a good idea to go walking about at night or in really bad areas. But it’s always been like that. So I don’t really see a difference myself.
If people in the suburbs are starting to experience a higher occurrence of crime … well my feeling is just that they are experiencing what has always been there. Only they were shielded by the burbs.
Not condoning crime, but I lived in one of the places that is notorious for violent crime, and I really think it’s overplayed and that is not good at all.
March 16th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
There are a lot of South African “haters” out there who love nothing more then to down grade their own country….(check out comments on south african vids on YouTube and you`ll catch my drift.) Why add to the negative instead of doing something good?
I have just signed up for the police reservists to help fight crime in my neighbourhood and I now soon i`ll have the oppertunity to assist the police with the 2010 world cup.
March 18th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
I read an article yesterday about the economic crisis – which, as I live in London, is all anyone talks about here. Kind of like how all anyone talks about at home is the crime in SA. A very interesting point in this article was that a lot of this recession is in our minds – we read the articles about all the bad news and companies closing and redundancies etc etc, and it builds up our own fears. It adds fuel to the fire – that does exist – but probably isn’t as bad as what we imagine it to be. This fear leads to people not spending any money as they don’t know what their futures might hold. This lack of spending means businesses not making any money and going under etc. It is a viscious cycle, and one I that I think pertains to the crime situation in SA.
While I do not dispute that crime is a very serious problem in SA – I for one have been a victim of a very serious, brutal crime. However, I do think our fears and attitudes towards it are fueled by what we read in the media and stories we hear from our neighbours/aunties/uncles etc. Another point in this article I read was that we probably won’t come out of the recession until, collectively, our attitudes towards it change and become more positive. If we stay afraid of the future, how is the economy ever going to start spending again and stablise? Therefore, we need to read more positive stories and start believing that the recession is coming to an end, in order to let go of the fear, and spend money again.
While this may not be an easy thing to do when it comes to crime – we are talking about people’s lives here – I think SA needs to collectively change it’s attitude towards crime. That doesn’t mean ignoring the problem or thinking it isn’t as bad as it is, but maybe acknowledging that our imaginations can sometimes be our own worse enemies. Maybe it is about recongising that our country is made up of survivors and using that as a positive step forward – we will survive this too? I don’t have the answers, but I can see what Nic is saying in that, sometimes, it may not be as bad as it seems.
March 23rd, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Actually crime is a big problem. If you’ve only heard about a hijacking from somebody’s long lost roommates best friends uncles domestic… then I wonder where you’ve been. In the past 6 months alone I can count the actual number of people I know that have been hijacked… it’s more than one hand!
Wanting SA to fail? Nah, I don’t think many really want that. It’s really one of the last places on this planet that actually has space. But while people’s lives are on the line each day it’s hard to remain optimistic. That’s the reality of the situation.
March 23rd, 2009 at 3:01 pm
I stumbled upon this blog when I Googled “Earth Hour” and what a contrast to ZASUCKS!
I agree 100% with Nick Jackson. Last week I received a chain email about child abuse! The writer wanted the death penatly reinstated and asked people to sign the petition which she wanted to send to the President! I Googled the name of the child and it turned out to be an incident that happend in Nieu Zeeland in 2007! I enlightned the writer and needless to say she has not responded!!
There are definitely South Africans that want SA to fail. They are the doomsayers who want to sit back, gloat and say
” we told you so…” Even if there was no crime, they would find something to critisise…
Crime is a huge problem, perhaps more than we know. Some police station commanders “cook” their crime stats – in the town where I live not a single armed robbery which took place at a business or private residence had been noted in the stats in the last 5 years….
It is demorilizing when the very people who are suppose to enforce the law do not.
March 26th, 2009 at 7:11 am
Ok yebo I am in ‘Stralia. I have been raped, home invaded my neighbour murdered, my nephew hijacked , my brother hijacked twice, my sister attempted murder, my nephews held up with AK47′s and many many more. Am I making this up, well according to many people here it is exaggerated you know. Don’t speak about us the crime victims you know nothing about. My son was traumatised and always locking everything. He is now happier than ever. I do not hate SA. I love it forever. It is the best place on earth. Stop telling us what we do not know!!!! We all love SA. Why on earth do we all have electric fencing and anti hijack devices, becuas we are paranoid??? c/mon get real. I would move back in an instant. I do not want SA to fail. SA cannot guarantee our safety. Why??? Take down your electric fences and armed response and take the Tracker out your car. Go on I dare you and while you are about it take the burglar proofing off your windows and…
March 29th, 2009 at 1:49 am
I hope South Africa becomes another Zimbabwe.
I gave up 2 years of my life plus a few 3 month camps to fight for a better South Africa. But it was just given to the enemy by the stupid boers to destroy and run into the ground.
I cant wait for the time SA becomes another waste land like the rest of Africa then they will have to ask, beg and plead to the whites in the west to come and save and feed them.
August 11th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Nic,
ZA is doomed.
But am glad that you chose to deny it. Either you can not see it or you are wearing very thick glasses. The mere fact that you have this site proves that there is a problem in ZA.
Actually, I think the problem is people like you!
August 13th, 2009 at 4:30 am
Do South Africans want South Africa to fail? — It already failed! haha
August 28th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Come over to Australia to see how things are done and how everyone lives in harmony. Once you have been here you will love it and not want to go back. Quality of life is so much better here. South Africa has failed already – but sadly most South African won’t admit to the crime and corruption. They are immune to it already. If you love South Africa more than your family’s welfare – stay there – enjoy it while it lasts…
September 2nd, 2009 at 10:05 am
I’ve been to Australia. Three times. My Dad emigrated there and I could’ve too. After visiting I came home and threw out the Emigration paper-work.
My sister actually came back from there on Saturday. She still lives here. So does my brother.
I’ve visited 10 countries, I’d rather live in about eight of them than Australia.
Why are you on this site (it’s called SA Rocks) if you’re trying to get people to move from SA?
September 8th, 2009 at 8:25 am
Nick,
Thanks you for your insightfull comments about Australia.
All I can say to you is that you should rather go and work & live in a country before you just say it’s not for you.
Aussie is 1st world and ZA is 3rd world. You can not compare the two.
Just as you seem to live in denial about RSA’s situation, seems like you live in denial about how to form an opinion about a country. (‘Stralia probably will not let you in … is that why you dislike it?) Os is it because there are far less crime, a much better GDP, a lower inflation, more beaches, less people, stronger currancy, not so badly affected by this recession….shall we continue?
September 21st, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Ok folks. What you need to understand is most of the negative stuff comes from expats. They pretend to be “concerned” citizens but really their agenda is far less noble. Yes, they want to see South Africa fail. Every bad story they read about South Africa helps them deal with the homesickness and bitterness. It’s psychological dynamic I’ve been writing about for months at my blog which you will find by clicking on my name.
Of course it’s not that simple and it’s not always purely 100% homesickness. Some people have been the victims of crime and we don’t degrudge them. Their anger at the entire country is a bit misplaced but grieving people can’t always be expected to be rational. Then you get the indocrinated old schoolers who left in 1994 or something out of pure fear that black people were going to take revenge. They quite typically served in the militiary and have some silly ideas about black people. A lot of projected guilt to.
Then you get the people who lived in JHB. Why they go to the effort to emmigrate and hate the country instead of just moving to the coast I don’t know. Considering white South Africans have a 12 in 100 000 chance of being murdered (1 in 33 murders is white) and even less at the coast , you’re more likely to commit suicide in Britain that get murdered here (15 in 100 000). So think about that.
(this is the guy who did the study to determine the white murder rate : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonny_Steinberg )
April 30th, 2010 at 7:22 pm
Spot on article Nic, you hit the nail on the head.
It’s so funny how you get some disgruntled Saffa’s (see “Ex South African Aussie” comment) who tell you how crap South Africa is and how wonderful their new home is, and yet STILL spend hours trawling the web for anything remotely South African.
It’s quite apparent that despite all their negativity, they simply can’t move on in life…
May 4th, 2010 at 1:17 pm
@Ian: Sadly, you don’t need to be trawling the web for anything remotely South African to find bad, really bad news about the place.
I think many are simply bitter because they have had to relocate for one reason or another.
Me… well life is relatively good, still. I’m not even South African and yet I remain here. If I had kids… well, that’s whole other discussion. While it’s great to be optimistic, others are also allowed to be pessimistic. Such is the nature of things. Somewhere in-between we have the truth… and it’s not quite stable.
May 8th, 2010 at 8:48 pm
Yeah!!! Things may not be as we hoped them to be after the bloodless revolution of 1994. Who can make it happen. Only you and I. This is our country. We must love it. We must work hard together – all of us – stop complaining. Nobody will listen. Make this country a better place for our children and for generations to follow. Its about time we stopped squealing and ask ourselves the question… What are we doing for our country?
If Americans, Britons and oters all over the world can love their country, why shouldn’t we? Stop being negative. South Africa is a country that can teach the world a lot. Be a proud South African. Dr K. Maraj (Peppy)
May 17th, 2010 at 11:20 am
@Ian and Robert,
Most people that left RSA are very happy. They left for very valid reasons. And yes, some of these people are scarred as they lost loved ones or were victims. So please, have a bit of respect ok.
The bitter ones go back to RSA – ask Nic as he has all the stats. The bitter ones can not make it overseas and that is why they run back to RSA. Classic isńt it?
The Braves RSA one are the ones that leave. They are the ones that take teh risk and look after their families and make a better life for them. I feel sorry for the people that want to leave RSA but can not. I do not feel sorry for the ones that deny the problems and have no real plan (Nic) to overcome the RSA issues.
@Peppy.
¨Stop being negative¨ – So RSA peopel should be positive and all the badd issues will go away? I think your RSA solution is to get angry, rise up, make a plan, execute a plan and change things. Being possitive and hugging trees and smiling to other people and denying the problems will not solve your RSA issues.
June 14th, 2010 at 9:12 pm
Thanks for the world cup, I have started to question all the negativity spread about South Africa. ALL this negativity coming from “white” South Africans. I think this comes from a racist attitude or mindset. If South Africa, as a democracy, is successful, they think it will mean bad for “whites”, or that “whites” are not superior, but equals to others. And many “white” South Africans see the darker skin colors as inferiors.
July 17th, 2011 at 8:38 pm
This may be off base, but how about changing the layout every now and then? Maybe not if it won’t look right though. My own computer has about 1000 wallpapers that randomly rotate every 15 minutes, lol. Adult ADD I guess. Good post though, thanks.
Thanks,
Mary Fisher