SA Rocks

The post below is a letter that I received regarding a post that was written by Jason Von Berg. I appreciate these sort of letters and must admit that they don’t really come along very often.

The post ‘I want to stay,please give me a reason‘ spoke to me,but for me, its more sort of ‘I want to go,give me a reason’.

My parents are black South Africans who left during apartheid. I was born and live in England. There’s many things I love about England, but recently, I decided I want to move to SA. I am at the point of going to university and considered I could stay here. Or I could listen to the voice telling me I love South Africa, and feel I belong there,and make the move.It hasn’t been a simple choice, I keep up with South African papers/blogs and am aware of the problems facing the country (crime/aids etc) and whether I am imagining it or not, since I made my decision the news seems to be getting worse! With people ominously talking about South Africa becoming a banana state since Zuma, the load-shedding, Selebi etc.

This stuff can freak me out but then I consider that if you go on any british newsite, and a lot of the stories are also negative/about crime. I’m not trying to suggest that England and SA have a similar amount of crime, but, that is the nature of news anywhere, to report the negative over the positive.

I think of the things I love about SA, the people, the accents, the contrasts; visiting my grandmother in her quiet village in the north, then going out with my cousins in the fast-paced, vibrant Joburg, the beauty of the country, the chance to learn all those languages, or attempt to! And i cant wait to see how the world cup will turn out. And I know I’m generalising, but in the UK I sometimes feel that everything’s bought up, already done, a kind of sense of complacency about things, whereas in SA I feel a sense that things are still new, there are things that people are passionate about, want to fight for, and contribute to.

I’m sure you get a lot of mail from the ‘SASucks’ type of people who love to tell you about the negative and say you’re stupid for talking about the positive. I don’t see why your site offends them so much (you must be doing something right!) as for every positive site on the net about SA, there’s about 20 other negative ones where they can go and grumble. Also I am yet to read an article on SARocks that says ‘South Africa is perfect, there are no problems blah blah blah’. You don’t deny the problems, but instead of indulging in pointless rants about how rubbish everything supposedly is, you encourage conversations about how to possibly solve these problems and are unashamedly proud of the great deal of positive there is in South Africa as you should be. Since when did acknowledging the positive automatically mean you are ignorant of the negative???

I hope you’re aware that sites like yours mean a lot to people like me, who appreciate hearing the good news as well as the bad, keep up the good work, hopefully I’ll be joining you guys in SA soon!

Anon

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So I’m not particularly old, in fact I’m relatively young. So when someone trying to organise a ten year reunion for my primary school I get concerned.

However the most concerning thing is that out of about ten responses only two people can make it. The reasons given my all eight of the people not attending were the same, London.

A quick percentage survey of the whopping ten people shows that 80% of the people I grew up with are overseas, in London. What the hell is that? I don’t get it. Overseas, great but London? I just never understand that.

The sad thing is that there is certainly a percentage of these people who will end up staying over there never to return. Why? I don’t know. I would definitely choose to live in SA over London any day of the week. Traveling is great but I honestly don’t count England as traveling anymore. There are just too many South Africans over there right now.

I just hope that some of them start coming back so that my 20 year reunion is ruined too!

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Today I have never been so happy and proud to see the deep green and stunning gold colours of the Bokke. I have seen them everywhere and felt the nation pulling tighter towards one another.

In tragedy comes unity and Lucky Dube’s untimely departure can do just that. Bring us together. Combined with the stunning vibe around the nation thanks to the South African rugby players I think that our nation is more together on a day like today than it has been ever, even since the ’95 world cup win.

I personally hope that there is some mention of the late Lucky Dube at the world cup final, a tribute song, a chant from the fans, something, anything. But if there isn’t I am sure it will be a silent protest, a quiet disdain for the incident and the situation. I hope that we stand up and shout. I hope that we sit and contemplate our fate as a nation, on the field, off the field and anywhere else that we find ourselves.

But more than anything I hope that we have had enough. I hope that as a nation we have had enough of incredible highs like the RWC final being dampened by unbelievable lows. I hope that we are fed up with our apathy, fed up with our situation and ready to pull together and win the RWC and defeat our internal enemies (whomever they may be). Enough is enough.

Those three words – Enough is Enough – will become a recurring theme here. Not a negative theme, a positive theme that will turn us in to something that we want to be as a nation. Let the world cup galvanize us in to a nation of fighters, a nation of prosperous, contented and thriving individuals.

I am proud of the Springboks, I am proud of Jake White, I am proud of both for overcoming doubt, adversity and conflict within government, politics, economics and other factors to have gotten this far in a tournament of this calibre. Win or lose, I am one proud South African.

Now let’s go out on to that field and whip the English.

COME ON THE BOKKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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This is my prediction at least! I have no doubt in my mind that this will be the outcome.

I think that we have the determination to do it and the humble, focused attitude for the win to be possible. It might not happen, there is always, always that chance but so be it, that is sport. It is not the be all and end all if we don’t win. But we will!

An interesting discussion that I was part of the other day centred around what it would be like in Wimbledon, Putney, Essex and other areas in England that have a high SA population. I think that either way there is going to be upheaval in those areas. British pubs with losers (either way you look at it) inside pissed of and pissed in general

The combination of Saffas, Pommes, beer and win/loss outcome is potent and deadly. I sincerely hope for the sake of every Saffa over there that the Bokke destroy England on Saturday. If they don’t life is going to be considerably more uncomfortable at work, at pubs and at play for any South African living abroad.

All in all I think that the world cup this year was a success and the nation building that took place has been welcome.

Congratulations to the Bokke and England for making it to the final. May the best team win!

Tracey McGregor agrees with me… keep your eyes up lads, listen to the audio.

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Wow. I can’t wait for this RWC to be over. I really can’t take this stress anymore!

It is a pleasure to see Jake White smiling though, I must admit.

The Springboks are through to the final of the RWC and I am over the moon, as I am sure the rest of the country is. Like Darren Scott said, if you just tuned in, this is the RWC and where have you been?

The one thing that I found particularly interesting was the differing reactions between SA and England when they got through to the final. England was overjoyed while the South Africans didn’t even crack a smile after the game. Interesting if you ask me. Very interesting.

I think congratulations are in order for Argentina too. They played out of their boots for the entire World Cup and proved to the world that they are now a force to be reckoned with. They did their continent proud.

I would really, really, really, really… really like SA to whip the English in the final on Saturday. If you haven’t booked to watch the game anywhere, sorry for you because I am sure everywhere is packed out.

Enjoy the game on Saturday. Bokke, you have done us proud, now bring home the cup.

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