by Gaynor Paynter

G21 Africa Columnist

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Gaynor Paynter & her sons

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Good day all my American and international readers. I greet you from South Africa on this eve of Guy Fawkes Day [5 November - Ed.] (my neighbours are loudly practising their fire cracker ignition techniques in preparation for tomorrow's big night).

Currently, South Africa is, as always, beautiful. Our residential streets are a shadowy purple wonderland - they are lined by Jacaranda trees which meet above our heads and which are shedding their produce plentifully on the ground below. How it is pleasant to see these luscious mahogany roads, instead of the normal grey-black ones! Take a morning walk and your experience will be enhanced by the weak light of the break of day sun stretching its fingers through the leaves and filtering down to warm your skin.

South African people in general are rather opinionated and like to be given the chance to express their views. I conducted some research amongst some acquaintances and friends of mine who I feel represent fairly in their diversity all South African citizens as I have been in contact with Black, White, Indian and Coloured South Africans and I posed the same questions to all of them. One of the questions I asked them was What's Hot and What's Not in South Africa? Some of the answers they came up with were predictable but do need to be documented because they are representative of how South Africans, as a whole, feel and the others surprised me in their originality.

Some of the things that were decreed to be HOT are:

1. Our ex-President Nelson Mandela. Even though he has stepped down from the Presidency, this wise, educated South African is still very involved in both local and world affairs. His love and concern for the children of our country is world-renowned and his Children's Fund is going very strong here. I have the utmost respect for this man, our Madiba, South Africa's most famous and best ambassador. He is the face of the New South Africa.
   
2. South African music. Five or ten years ago South Africans did not support anything local -- be it music, television, theatre, etc. South African musicians have responded by producing world-class music and we are especially proud of our band 101 who are the winners of the Popstars competition and Heinz Winckler who is our Pop Idol. They now have our full support. They are world beaters and you are sure to be hearing from them soon.
   
3. Our sport. Traditionally, South Africa has always been a sports loving nation. We love soccer, we love rugby and cricket has a special place in my heart because of the obvious patriotism our national team displays. (I would rate the popularity of cricket in this country on a par with the popularity of baseball in America).
   
4. Our Police force. Yes, this one's placement in the What's Hot section may seem strange given that the level of crime in South Africa is so high, but our police force are in fact high class. One hears daily of robbers, murderers and rapists being caught by our intrepid police force - and then of how they are let off on bail or with a light prison sentence by the judicial system. It is like the police have two forces to fight - the criminals themselves, and the judicial system.
   
5. Patriotism - this is growing stronger day by day. We are proud to be South African, and are not afraid to say so.
   
6. The weather - although we tend to take it for granted sometimes, we are blessed with the most beautiful weather and surroundings possible. (And sometimes the beauty is so stunning that I don't believe it CAN be possible!)
   .
7. The cross section of culture in the country, which has given rise to the most fabulous selection of foreign style restaurants. We can have Italian, Greek, Portuguese, Thai, Chinese (and yes, good old American McDonalds) cuisine (and it is all within a radius of five kilometres from my house.)
   
8. The new skills development act which is a government initiative enabling employers to train up their staff members at a relatively minimal cost. Also available to South Africans is the new NQF rating which allows a person with a number of years of experience but only a Grade 11 level of education to get a rating putting him on an equal footing as someone with a Grade 12 (or higher) level of education.

Of course, as in any country, there are some things that are not so hot, and some of the things that are FREEZING COLD in our country are:

1. Crime. Obviously, this was the big one that everyone mentioned, and it is the one factor that can turn even the most loyal South African's thoughts to immigration. With the news today that a ten month old baby was murdered when his father's truck was hijacked, comes the realisation that this is a problem which is just not going away. Many, myself included, would like to see the death penalty reintroduced (this was abolished some years ago and crime levels have shot through the roof).

   Babies as young as three months have been raped and a large percentage of South Africans believe that the ultimate penalty should be paid by the perpetrators of this crime in particular, as well as any type of murder. We feel that enough is enough - our children are suffering absolutely untold horrors. We believe that the simple reintroduction of the death penalty would play a large part in convincing criminals not to commit crimes, and convincing professional South Africans to remain in this country. President Mbeki, are you listening, are you listening??

   There is a joke that has been told in South Africa for many years. A Briton, an American and Van der Merwe (the butt of many South African jokes) are flying in a plane. After a while, the Briton sticks his hand out of the plane and says, "Ah yes, we are flying over Britain." The others want to know how he can be sure of this. "Well," says the Briton, "when I stuck my hand out of the plane, I felt the cool, silky waters of the English Channel". A while later, the American sticks his hand out of the window and says "Now we're going over America. When I stuck my hand out of the window I felt the great Statue of Liberty." Some time later, Van der Merwe stuck his hand out of the window. "Oh yes", he said "we're definitely going over South Africa now! When I stuck my arm out of the window it had a watch on it. Now it is bare!"
   

2. Being politically correct. How are we supposed to build this young democracy when we are too busy worrying about whose toes we are going to step on by choosing certain words with which to express ourselves? Obviously, one can't go around being insulting and rude but freedom of speech is being limited by those who believe in political correctness.
   
   
3. South Africans who have left the country and spend their time telling potential tourists how bad the country is. They who are not prepared to stay here and get the country operational are its' biggest disparagers, whilst those of us who are committed are left to pick up the pieces. This effects the economy in that it discourages tourists from coming here, therefore there are less jobs and therefore levels of crime go higher. So if there are any ex-patriot South Africans reading this, support the country of your birth from afar. Draw the good points to the attention of the people in other countries - there are so many.

To my surprise, what was not mentioned in this section of the questionairre (although it was brought up in other areas, which will be the subject of future articles) was the problem of the AIDS epidemic, which in the words of Nelson Mandela is vastly depleting South Africa's strongest resource - it's people.

It is my personal feeling that our government is not taking a strong enough stance on the issue of AIDS. There are very many myths doing the rounds about AIDS and I feel that the government should be making it's policy clear in this regard. Correct and up-to-date information about AIDS should also be far more readily available. Currently, if you want to find out about AIDS you need to go and find out the information yourself. (Granted, I do think the coverage of AIDS in schools is quite extensive, but there are vast masses of South Africans who do not have, and yet do need, easy access to AIDS information). It is thanks to men like Mr Mandela that I feel there is any hope at all that the AIDS epidemic may be combated

In summary, what came through strongest in the results of my research was the fact that there is in fact far more positivity amongst South African citizens out there than I ever imagined that there could have been. Ours is a lovely country and its citizens do love it. However, there is a common string of concerns amongst all South Africans, and these are what our government needs to take action on immediately - to stop the destruction and desertion of my countrymen, be it due to crime, AIDS or immigration. Urgent intervention is required.

I end with a quote: "This is South Africa, where nothing can be taken for granted, even if you see it with your own eyes." -- Rian Malan, South African writer.