I have been banging on this drum for years now here on SA Rocks. It finally seems as though the numbers are growing and the perceptions are changing, slightly. It finally seems as though people want to want, to stay here (ye, that’s a tricky little sentence to write out).
Columnist Chris Moerdyk came out with his latest piece on News 24 today. And what’s it about? Being positive in South Africa and having justifiable cause to feel that way.
Now before all the naysayers jump on to this post and slam the concept, please let me reiterate for the billionth time, I am not denying that SA has troubles, issues and problems. I have merely highlighting the fact that not everything is as bad all the time as many make it out to be. We have a lot to be proud of as South Africans living in SA.
Here are a few facts from Moerdyk’s column:
- “South Africa is probably the leading economy in the world.” (CNBC Europe)
- South Africa’s Rand is the second best-performing emerging market currency of the 26 monitored by Bloomberg in 2009.
- South Africa sold $1.8bn worth of cars to the US last year, putting us ahead of Sweden and Italy as suppliers to the US market.
- The International Monetary Forum’s World Economic Outlook ranks us in the top 10% of countries in respect of Real GDP Growth Projections for 2010.
- In the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Survey of Democratic Freedom we rank 31st of of 184 countries.
- South Africa ranks second worldwide in terms of the transparency surrounding its budgets – just behind the United Kingdom, tie with France, and ahead of New Zealand and the United States – according to the Open Budget Index.
- Johannesburg ranks 2nd among countries from Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa in dealing with urbanisation and environmental challenges, in the MasterCard Insights Report on Urbanisation and Environmental Challenges.
For the rest of the list and the entire column head over to News 24 and read the column there.
Similar Posts:
- 24 more reasons to stay in SA
- It’s 2010, welcome!
- 130 countries and South Africa is one of the best
- Product Week – Chappies kicks us off
- Barack Obama moves me
Popularity: 5% [?]
May 10th, 2010 at 11:11 am
How could you leave out Moerdyk’s most important point – Hospital f**king Bend!
May 10th, 2010 at 11:16 am
Sorry Simon! Was focusing more on the quick facts/tips, but I have linked through to his article so that people can get the full experience of his column!
May 10th, 2010 at 2:10 pm
I love this attitude so much. We are both writing about the same ideas, and I hope more people buy into being more positive!
May 10th, 2010 at 2:11 pm
Once again: YEAH!
May 10th, 2010 at 2:14 pm
A quick point: I come from one of the top 3 cities in the world (Vancouver, Canada). If SA didn’t rock, why would I be moving here?! That’s evidence enough, in my view
May 15th, 2010 at 7:19 am
Nic,
SA is in crisis. Whey are people running out of the country? Seems like round 20% whites have left SA since 1994. And figures now say that blacks are leaving as well. Most of the Jews already left – that is a very clear indication things are cracking! Pot is boiling and you are do not realise it.
What is going on dude? Are you guys scaring people away? We have so many SA people wanting to leave and have already left.
What is your opinion? Is it the crime? The lack of future for children, is it the smoke and mirrors of your government, is it AA, is it just Africa?
Dude, your people are in panic. And you site proves this.
What are you doing dude?
May 15th, 2010 at 9:43 am
A lot of people are actually returning to this country: http://www.homecomingrevolution.co.za/, including Jews. My partner is a returning SAfrican, and we know many more who are doing the same. Don’t believe every word you read in the media. Instead, take a graduate level critical research studies course in media crime analysis, and major in analyzing crime statistics – you will realize that you and everyone else here is being manipulated by an uneduated, uninformed media with a larger political agenda. I felt SO much better about life after I finshed my course – you will too.
May 15th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
Dianna,
babe, you have no clue do you?
The site you sent does not proof that people are returning. All my friends and family have moved out of AIDS RSA. SA folks are running out. It is actually scary how many are leaving. You do not need a degree in stats to know or proof that. Google is your friend, so have a look for yourself.
You and Nic (blog site owner) have your other option open to leave as soon as the shut hits the fan. I still have a bet that Nic refuses to take. I told Nic that I would retur to AIDS RSA if he gives up his EU passport. Guess what, he does not want to take the bet. Funny, lol. And believe me, I do not want to return to AIDS RSA, but also I know that my bet is save as Nic will not give up his EU passport. Point is, he knows his is gonna run soon, and needs his passport. Many other RSA people are not so lucky to have his option. You also have the out (2nd passport) and that gives you the safe play. Let me take you on: if yiu love RSA so much, and if it is really so much better than Canada then give up yiur Canadian passport. I dare you. And I am also 110% confident you will not. Point is my dear: you are talking rubbish when you write about AIDS RSA is better than Canada. And you know it is rubbish.
Let md ask you this. Do you have children? Would yiu rush your young children in that crime statistic called AIDS CORRUPT RACIST RSA?
I read yiur 10 reasons why CT is better than Canada. Again, what rubbish. I will respond point by point to every point you raised to proof to yiu how wrong you are.
My advice to yiu is to take the blinkers off, do not publish lies, and most importantly: save yourself as you still have time. Leave RSA, go back home (or if you hate Canada so much, or have been kicked out, then look at places like Aussie – the best place on earth!!!!! And many many other better countries than CRIME AIDS CORRUPT POOR RACIST RSA.
RSA is the no 1 crime country in the world. Only Columbia is worse in some categories. RSA has the biggest AIDS infection rate in the world – good luck going to any hospital, or getting a cut accidentally.
Would like to say that I will pray for yiur safety, but I do not pray for idiots that live in denial and trash blogs with lies.
Lol, your posts make me laugh!
May 15th, 2010 at 2:10 pm
Dianna,
Btw way yiur last post to me is rubbish too. You ate controdicting yourself. Lol.
Why: you write about how great RSS is. But then yiu write to me saying the media in RSa is corrupt and publish lies. Ang the funny thing is that The world media agrees with the RSA media also writes about the crime, corruption , racism, aids, etc in RSA. So are all the media lying then.
All I can say is that it is indeed you my dear that are writing rubbish!
Gist busters is not going to answer your call when the shit hits the fan! Get out while you can!!!!!! I beg you- do not become another statistic.
(btw. The Auusies do not want to go to RSA Soccer world cup as they fear for their lives and rightfully so).
May 15th, 2010 at 4:50 pm
May 16th, 2010 at 4:14 am
@Dianna,
Are you taking my bet: Give up your Canadian passport and I will give up my Aussie one. We can then both live in RSA and watch as “she” goes down.
Are you taking my bet Dianna??
May 16th, 2010 at 8:44 am
That’s just stupid. Then I would be stateless. I don’t have SA citizenship, so I can’t stay here even if I wanted to. I’m not replying to anymore of your juvenile posts. And please, spell my name properly.
May 16th, 2010 at 12:49 pm
@Dianne
yep , thought so. You will not give up your Canadian citizenship. Seeing yiu ate so called married to. a RSA bloke you should be able to get RSA citizenship and then give up your Canadian passport. But you will not will you. Lol
so you proofed me right then. Your 10 points are classic rubbish!
It is actually funny as you never mentioned the real reason you are for RSA. It is either i) your partner asked you to, or ii) you were kicked out if Canada. Lol. Instead yiu publish 10 lame reasons ( which are btw more facts about CT than reasons why to go there or CT being better than Vanc.
Dianne, living in a country is like living in a hotel. You pay the rate (taxes) and expect services ( electricity, hospitals, schools, etc) and to be treated with respect. You do not get that in RSA. The balance is broken. You will realise this once your honymoon is over or when the crime / aids hits you.
Good luck – but please do not ever say you were not told!!!!
Will remember you as the 10 reasons bull shit lady. Lol.
May 16th, 2010 at 6:52 pm
Married? Who said I’m married? Even if I do get married, it takes at least 5 years to get permanent residence. Much longer to get citizenship. Maybe you should learn about these things before flying off at the mouth. I’ve been here 4 months. My observations are my personal observations. I am not telling anyone else what to think or what to feel. I find it astonishing that you allow a woman’s personal travel blog rile you to this degree. Why not live and let live. I don’t give a shit about what you do in your life, so why do you care so much about what I do with mine?
And why do you think I owe anybody any reasons for wanting to be here? I have been trying to come to Africa to volunteer for the last 10 years. Canadians come here all the time to volunteer, as do Americans, Germans, etc. In fact, more Canadians leave their country to volunteer abroad than almost any other country. Why are you so full of hatred at people who come here to volunteer and help people in your country? I don’t get paid to volunteer here; I teach language classes to people who can’t afford to pay. There is a huge community of foreigners here, trying to help your damn country. It makes SA look even worse when its citizens verbally abuse people from other ocuntries who have come here out of the goodness of their hearts. Are you trying to make all the NGOs and volunteers leave? You should not be biting the hand that feeds…it simpply makes your country look small and ungrateful.
May 17th, 2010 at 10:59 am
¨I am not telling anyone else what to think or what to feel¨ — yes you are. you clearly stated that people should read your blog if you do not get it.
¨Much longer to get citizenship.” – am glad you have taken up my bet. You can easily speed up the process. Two options i) Bribe someone – this is quite common practice in RSA , ii) Send your 10 point post to RSA and Canadian Governments and give up your Canadian citizenship and ask RSA for theirs. A short court case and am sure you would get ti – just ask Nic as he wrote on this site before how a RSA citizen got Canadian Citizenship the same way.
¨And why do you think I owe anybody any reasons for wanting to be here?” – well your tell me. you are the one who posted 10 reasons and failed to share the real reasons. SO are you admitting to have lied?
¨here is a huge community of foreigners here, trying to help your damn country¨ – correct, they are there to help. And not to publish rubbish and deny the problems in RSA. Btw, funny how you use ¨damn¨ in your sentance compared to before you stated that you love it so much and that it is better than Canada… lol. You are confusing the readers dear.
¨Why are you so full of hatred at people who come here to volunteer and help people in your country?” I am not full of hatred to people trying to help. Where were these people trying to help all the people that have left RSA? I do however have an issue with people denying that RSA has some serious problems and posting 10 points about why a 3rd would country is better that a 1st world country. And btw, it is not my country any more. I gave it up because i was forced to. And just be be crystal clear, RSA belongs to the Bushmen and Hottentots. Most of these people have been killed by the black Arican tribes that came from Africa and less so my the White Europeans that settled post 1652.
Dianne, my issue with your 10 point blog is that it is rubbish reasons and crap reasoning why CT is better than Vanc. I never said anything about volunteers or asking them to leave. RSA is a dangerous country and denying that upsets me. It would better for this person who denies it (reading your post you qualify) to leave RSA as your stay will end it tears (and hopefully not tears that could not be dried = death).
My point again. If you want to help RSA then be honest about things. Write the truth and let the world know about it. Don´t write about how rosy and green it is and deny the real issue. Make a difference and come up with a plan that can help RSA (unlike Nic who thinks that by being positive and smile at everyone will make the RSA issues go away). Hope that this is crystal clear.
May 17th, 2010 at 5:03 pm
All I will say is that your point about death is very curious. By living in Australia and spewing hateful things at positive people, are you somehow miraculously avoiding death yourself? Are you in possesion of some anti-death potion?
NOTE TO NICK: People die terrible deaths every day, in every country. By getting in a car, your are endangering your life. I worked in litigation in auto insurance claims, and I’ve seen more horrific accident scenes that I care to describe. I’ve seen babies whose necks snapped in half and were sliced to bits as they sailed through the windshield because a parent decided not to put the baby in a child seat. I’ve seen horribly mutilated bodies because someone decided to drive instead of walk to the store. Simply by getting in a car, you invite death. Or paralysis, or mutilation. Or catastrophic head injury. Does this mean you won’t get in a car?? Does this mean you will write terrible things at people who blog about their favorite cars? That all Mustang lovers are superficial assh***s who deserve to be stomped on? According to your justifications for your accusations above, you should be angry with those people for not telling the truth , for not telling everyone that cars are actual death machines. Do you let your children drive a car, Nick? Do you let your teenagers get into a death machine? How irresponsible of you. Your parenting license should be taken away from you. Don’t you know the statistics on how many young people die/get paralyzed/have head injuries from cars? How many accident scenes have to been to? How many morgues have you visited to look at dead teenagers? But yet you let your kids drive. SHAME. You should be berating car magazines and commercials. You should never get in a car again. You should give up your driver’s license. Go on. I dare you. Give it up, Nick.
Or how about police officers. I worked with officers every day when investigating accidents and while working in customs. Do you think that because they could potentially be shot and killed every day, they should be writing terrible things about their jobs, telling young people that policing is a terrible job? Most of the officers I know LOVE their jobs, in spite of and because of the danger. Certain people thrive in stimulating situations and don’t even perceive it to be dangerous.
Basically, you are unable to understand that shit happens in life and we are all going to die. Some people care about death more than others. Some, like Buddhists, see death as simply the next phase and it does not worry them at all. Christians should not fear death either (remember, God commands that people fear nothing but Him), since heaven awaits.
Some people prefer to worry their entire lives (which to me is like a living death). Others choose to say “f*** it” and do the things in life that they love to do. I have travelled all over the world. I have been mugged and robbed and assaulted. But that does not stop me from living. As long as I’m alive, I will LIVE, and for me, living means experiencing life in it’s totality. Including things that are risky. Do you smoke? Do you drink? If so, you have more chances of dying from that than you do from being shot.
We ALL die, pal; maybe you have a giant cancerous tumour in your brain which makes you speak in such hateful language – maybe you won’t wake up tomorrow. Or maybe you’ll have a heart attack due to all the hateful energy you carry in your body. Or maybe you’ll choke on a carrot while you are pontificating at positive people. More people die of heart attacks than gun shots, my friend. I am very curious how you plan on avoiding death. Last I heard, people die in Australia, and Canada, and England, and South Africa, every single day. Babies, old people, middle-aged moms…everyone dies, and no one can control it, not even you.
May 17th, 2010 at 5:14 pm
BTW, Australia has the highest rates of skin cancer in the world. I take it that you have children. Why would you take your children to a country that is so dangerous?? How could you expose them to such high risks of melanoma? You should be fed to the wolves for writing about how safe Australia is when you know that it is a death oven. SHAME.
May 17th, 2010 at 6:19 pm
Positive? You want “SA-positive”? I’ll give you an “SA-positive” status! http://fredhatman.co.za/?cat=148
May 17th, 2010 at 9:06 pm
Here is my last post on this issue:
http://dirussell.com/2010/05/17/fear-of-death-good-reason-to-hide-from-life/
May 18th, 2010 at 7:38 am
Or let’s make it second to last…oh Nick, are you hiding now? Did this finally shut you up? haha!
May 19th, 2010 at 7:28 am
@Dianne,
Please share where I said that Aussie is save? Every country has it issues. However, RSA is the world leader in Crime. Aussie is much much much safer than RSA. I find it amazing how you trash Canada, Australia, RSA, etc. Make up your mind please as it seems like you like trashing all countries. lol. Btw, I am yet to get what you are trying to say. Guess “10 point rubbish girl” is a great name for you as it suite you writing!
At the end of the day it is about life expectancy. A measure how long you will live on average in a country. Have a look.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy
Yes, we all die. But no stupid person run into a fire. Or do they? The basic person would run away. Seems like you are running into the fire!!!! lol.
Look at this. do you think this is a joke?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a48ppwxnOzM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8uTuV8Nuz0
You are playing the odds (gambling) with you life by living in RSA. Denying this is just stupid. 50 murders a day, 60 attempted murders a day. Lets not even mention risk of AIDS, etc. Phew…WOW.
Even Nic agrees that RSA has issues. Why do you deny this Dianne? Get out while you can if you love life and like living.
May 20th, 2010 at 4:46 am
Some people prefer to live in constant fear and perceive risk as a thrill.
Some people live in denial and chose not to belive the realities if Crime and AIDS. (clue, look at RSA gov asking people to wash more to prevent Aids, lol)
Realists acknowlege the RSA issues. Those that can leave are leaving. Those that can not leave long for the opportunity to do so. Those that acknowlege the problems have not plan other than smiling at the green dying grass and prefer a boiling pot. Those that deny the problems are the easy targets and do not get why the rest if the world is so called ‘wrong’ in highlighting the issues.
Bless your ignorance.
Some RSA people do return (e.g. Ja-Nee) – I never disputed this fact. They may have some spare cash to employ 2 maids, 2 garden helpers, afford the bullet proof BMW, money for bribes, money for foreign hospitals, 2 armed responses, that super dooper alarm system, satalite tracking for that Beamer, bucks to build that extra meter on house wall, private taxi driver, house in gated community, cheap booze and ciggies, and most importantly: those BIG BLINKERS for the eyes!
Ps. Google is your friend:
http://www.amren.com/mtnews/archives/2010/04/south_africas_b_1.php
http://www.queensu.ca/samp/sampresources/samppublications/policyseries/policy23.htm
May 20th, 2010 at 12:58 pm
Bless your soul Di. So innocent so stupid. Lol