(Still running behind- presently in New Zealand but catching up)
2014-04-18

South Africa

There are some well know Australian talkback show commentators like John Laws and Darren Hynch who express their opinion and conclude: "well, this is my opinion !" or “That's what I think ! ”.

It is of no value to modify my findings to please or displease others.

My brother Frank his opinion, I assume will be close to mine as we have often discussed our findings.



Wildlife

The wildlife in South Africa is fantastic, we saw most animals which are to be found in the wild, but you need to visit the special parks. Unlike Australia, where wildlife is to be seen anywhere at anytime, in South Africa we saw very little wildlife outside the parks with exception of monkeys which were present at various places.

Whether the South African parks are the best, I can’t say as there are many similar parks in neighboring countries.



Prices

Visitors can expect lower prices of commodities than in Europe or Australia. Food is a lot cheaper and so is the cost of accommodation. Petrol is about the same as in Australia (cheap for Europeans) however for the local people it is an expensive country. I checked the classifieds in the paper where sales managers earn just $50,000 and administrative personnel just $30,000 per annum. Farm workers earn less than $4,000 per year.

Car

We rented a Hyundai I20 from Hertz. Car Hire is cheap at about $28.00 per day. Although the Hyundai returned a healthy 15 km/ltr it was not a car we should have used. This car is made for city work and definitely not for long distance driving. The high revving 1100 cc engine was noisy and under powered; at times struggling to get uphill in the mountain were many times we were down to second gear and even a few occasions in first to keep going. The seats were uncomfortable and the small wheels not suitable for dirt roads. If anyone plans to do a trip like this, a car the size of say a Toyota Camry would be fine. To use a four wheel or all wheels drive would be overkill unless you want to go into Namibia where the dessert roads consist of sand tracks.

People.

We met and have spoken to a variety of people. There are many “groups” of people ranging from various black tribal factions, to Indians, mixed race and white people.

Things have changed in South Africa.

Presently, in many places, banners are displayed with the text “20 years of freedom” celebrating 20 years after the “ending of apartheid”. On purpose I have placed that term in inverted commas. After having watched the film “Mandella” one can only conclude that things have improved since Mandella launched his protests which ultimately resulted in him becoming the country’s leader.

No more segregation of black and white people and no more signs with “Whites Only” on park benches, buses, trains and a host of other facilities. However that is all on the outside. I have noticed that in the heads of many white persons we have met, especially the older generation, apartheid still exists as it did before. References like “the blacks” or “those blacks” I commonly heard. Before going to South Africa I had already heard warnings from white South Africans living both inside the country and overseas, how dangerous the country was and that you had to watch “those blacks”. My findings were different. Of course you have to be vigilant in certain areas where you have a chance to get robbed (by black people) because it is they that are the poorly paid ones or mass unemployed as the term “equal opportunities” does not seem to appear in the local vocabulary.

I have seen and heard it, especially the Afrikaans speaking older generation white South Africans. Speaking a language very close to Dutch they have almost the same accent as Frank and I.

Often when we spoke to black people we were very quick to point out that we were from Australia but Dutch born. The Older white generation still suffers from a superiority complex as has been the case for many generations. I had an aunt who emigrated to South Africa when she was young and was very much like that. (this was the prime reason why I never gave South Africa a further thought when I wanted to emigrate).

Soon there will be elections; there are a few white people running for various positions in the government. In one of the places we stayed the owner said. I hope that such and such candidate wins because we need a white brain in the government. The white South Africans are still as arrogant as ever- something I had come to learn when talking /working with White South Africans who live in Australia. ( And I have met many of them.)

The black people are still recovering from decades of abuse but moving ahead, although slowly. Many shanty towns where people lived in tin sheds or even in modified wooden crates have been replaced by simple housing, however farm workers still earn only about $10.00 per day or just earn their income from tips. We asked a girl waitress who worked at a chain restaurant at the Johannesburg airport about her work and what she earned. The answer was shocking. She worked 8 to 10 hours a day for…? Nothing except for a couple of meals. Her income consisted of tips only. No wonder 9 out of ten people driving cars are white. Even if black people were able to purchase a car the majority could not afford the petrol at 1.45 a litre. Is there a difference between a white and a black person? There certainly is!

Instead of being resentful of what the white minority has done to them they (the black people) are very forgiving and a friendly lot. Of course the crime rate is high; many white people fear for their lives and property while living in their comfortable large houses surrounded with high walls with spiked barb wire and electric fences. They have created that themselves by repressing their fellow human beings. Once there is a true equal opportunity situation where everyone is paid a fair wage there won’t be much need for all this protection of their own property as the crime rate would drop.

Perhaps a few generations have to pass before this arrogant superiority complex of the many white Afrikaners can be called a thing of the past. Meanwhile we have met many nice people. Our encounters with the people of Swaziland was great, they were very accommodating and friendly. Another great people were the Zulu’s. Taller and blacker than the Swazi’s they made us very welcome with their brought smiles. Girls along the side of the road would wave at us while making that typical high pitched sound you often hear in Africa. To make this story complete, our interaction with the people of Lesotho were less friendly. They seemed annoyed by our presence for some reason, no matter where we went. Not much in the way of friendly faces other than the border guards at both ends of the country. Perhaps they have a valid reason for that.

Anyway that is what I found and what I think of South Africa.

South Africa…definitely worth a visit.