I have said it before, perhaps in a post somewhere in this Blog or maybe on an earlier visit to South Africa but when you have been here for seven consecutive years, then it does become rather challenging to write about something new! The fact that my last dispatch was 24th January adds weight to the theory. However, eventually a touch of inspiration drifts my way and the fingers hit the computer keypad.
I do find it funny, even now, that when we tell people we are heading down to South Africa for a holiday, they question our sanity as to why we would want to visit somewhere so dangerous! My immediate response is, "have you been into Bradford at 11pm on a Friday night recently?" I don't mean to denigrate Bradford because I could have used any UK city. It's just that it's the nearest major conurbation to where we live. Sorry Bradford!
Actually, I am not denying that this is a country with some major problems regarding crime although my own feeling is that the biggest crime here is the two tiered society and the poverty that afflicts a great proportion of black society. It shouldn't be like this and I find it hard to comprehend how, 23 years after the election of Nelson Mandela as the first black President of South Africa, more progress hasn't been made in turning this country into the success story that it really should be! I look for excuses but simply find myself unable to accept any that are put forward.
I read somewhere that Margaret Thatcher once said that anybody who thought the ANC could govern this country was living in cloud-cuckoo-land! No doubt she received considerable vitriol for this statement but now, so many years after she said it, the evidence is there of just what vision she had! The economy of the country is basically in melt down and certainly, the Western Cape without the vast amount of tourist money being generated annually, would be in a very sorry state.
I almost feel that apartheid still exists here because the white man remains dominant. Behavioural evidence is readily available in the way many of the white Afrikaans treat their fellow countrymen. Have they not heard of the word respect? Are they so reluctant to accept that everyone is born equal? It really is unpleasant when you witness it but in fairness, this type of behaviour is restricted to people of our age. Sad eh? For us, we believe in treating people of any colour or creed with the respect we would expect ourselves. It really does work and our experiences here in restaurants, in shops, in hairdressers, in supermarket car parks, in fact anywhere, have been absolutely fantastic and for that we are grateful.
Some people say that it will be at least three or four generations before it is as it should be. I hope it doesn't take this long because we truly love the country and I for one have become a fervent and passionate salesman on behalf of the South African nation. Whether it will improve more quickly than people anticipate, I don't honestly know. What I do know however is that things can only get better.
I know that this dispatch is perhaps depressing and a little bit heavy but we are having a blast and hopefully, some of the photos accompanying tonight's musings might counterbalance the black cloud hanging over you!
I do find it funny, even now, that when we tell people we are heading down to South Africa for a holiday, they question our sanity as to why we would want to visit somewhere so dangerous! My immediate response is, "have you been into Bradford at 11pm on a Friday night recently?" I don't mean to denigrate Bradford because I could have used any UK city. It's just that it's the nearest major conurbation to where we live. Sorry Bradford!
Actually, I am not denying that this is a country with some major problems regarding crime although my own feeling is that the biggest crime here is the two tiered society and the poverty that afflicts a great proportion of black society. It shouldn't be like this and I find it hard to comprehend how, 23 years after the election of Nelson Mandela as the first black President of South Africa, more progress hasn't been made in turning this country into the success story that it really should be! I look for excuses but simply find myself unable to accept any that are put forward.
I read somewhere that Margaret Thatcher once said that anybody who thought the ANC could govern this country was living in cloud-cuckoo-land! No doubt she received considerable vitriol for this statement but now, so many years after she said it, the evidence is there of just what vision she had! The economy of the country is basically in melt down and certainly, the Western Cape without the vast amount of tourist money being generated annually, would be in a very sorry state.
I almost feel that apartheid still exists here because the white man remains dominant. Behavioural evidence is readily available in the way many of the white Afrikaans treat their fellow countrymen. Have they not heard of the word respect? Are they so reluctant to accept that everyone is born equal? It really is unpleasant when you witness it but in fairness, this type of behaviour is restricted to people of our age. Sad eh? For us, we believe in treating people of any colour or creed with the respect we would expect ourselves. It really does work and our experiences here in restaurants, in shops, in hairdressers, in supermarket car parks, in fact anywhere, have been absolutely fantastic and for that we are grateful.
Some people say that it will be at least three or four generations before it is as it should be. I hope it doesn't take this long because we truly love the country and I for one have become a fervent and passionate salesman on behalf of the South African nation. Whether it will improve more quickly than people anticipate, I don't honestly know. What I do know however is that things can only get better.
I know that this dispatch is perhaps depressing and a little bit heavy but we are having a blast and hopefully, some of the photos accompanying tonight's musings might counterbalance the black cloud hanging over you!
Sunset Over Table Mountain
Family and Friends Lunching At Steffie's Place
View From Hillcrest Berry Orchard
Cafe Bon Bon In Franschhoek With Gill & Roger
Table Mountain From V & A Waterfront
Stark-Condé Vineyard
Beautiful Stark-Condé Again
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