Eish! It's Because I'm South African

This is a letter written to the Guardian Newspaper by a recent Nigerian visitor to our Shores, I found this a fascinating read.

South African experience
SIR: On Thursday October 1, 2009, the National Chairman of our great party Chief Bisi Akande; the Lagos State Chairman of the Party in Lagos, Chief Dele Ajomale; his wife; the [...]

A woman, with a winning bid of more than R1-million, secured the kiss –and the alleged meeting with Mandela, which now seems uncertain.

I saw this story on Facebook and it caught my attention because I went to school in Dundee in my youth and spent a fair amount of time in the 80’s in Dundee Hospital through various injuries attained while partying too hard. I remember the place as a clean, well run provincial institution that people were proud of in this small little Northern Natal Town. As I read this article, I found myself feeling increasingly saddened to call myself South African once again. The blatant disregard for the respect and dignity of Tax Payers in provincial hospitals today in South Africa is astounding. The seeds of these problems run very deep in this country, and I just don’t see us as a nation getting out of the slump we find ourselves in under the current Banana Republic Leadership style that the majority keeps voting for. My heart goes out to this family and I hope they can find a way of getting through their loss without too much disdain for the people that served them so badly.

This bright young Miss Teen USA contestant believes that South Africa needs help on the Education front. You poor girl, I hope your looks last, you are really going to need them in your future.

I find it so ironic that on Heritage day in South Africa, Athletics South Africa made one of the most profound statements to the youth of this country in our history. Children of South Africa IT IS OK TO LIE TO YOUR COUNTRY, is basically what the Association and the ANC Youth League had to say yesterday

STOP Living in the past! Most of the people that were responsible for implementing Apartheid are either Dead (if not physically yet, then definitely emotionally) or close to Retirement. For the rest of us, we see a country with tremendous potential and we all still here working on making it the best we can, even if that means taking our lives in our hands daily to support Government initiatives like the BRT.

So, with Petrol Bombs and Rubber Bullets going off on the lawns of South Africa’s Union Buildings and innocent shoppers being threatened with weapons when they leave a store. I have to ask the question. Are we a country in recession where strike action and emotion is spilling over into violent protest, or is South Africa a country that is in the grips of a Civil War?

I really had to think about this post for a change, and the reason I say that is because the message in my own mind is SO simple that it absolutely blows my mind every single day in South Africa how many people and how many companies get it so wrong. Customer Service is what I am talking about, or if you happen to be South African the apparent lack thereof.

The sad truth about this lot is that in the last 7 days more people in Africa have probably died from Tuberculosis than have died globally from Swine Flu since the Sensationalism started. I know for a fact that more people have died from HIV in South Africa alone in the last 7 days than globally from Swine Flu.