Auckland and Auckland Park: a world apart
Auckland Park in Johannesburg seems a world apart from Auckland in New Zealand. The Johannesburg suburb is a long-established middle class area and has always been a reasonably good place to live. The city of Auckland appears as number ten on the list of the most desirable cities in the whole world.
Blessed with great natural beauty and breathtaking seascapes, Auckland is a city where everything works. We spent five days there recently, travelling extensively around the city, revelling in a place where every single road is smooth and in excellent repair; not one pothole was in evidence; every pavement was immaculate; not one traffic light was out of order. It is clear that the city council does the job it was elected to do and the workers who are employed to look after the fabric of the city, including its roads and bridges and pavements, plus the immaculate public gardens everywhere, do what they are paid to do.
The weather has been kind to us throughout our trip and Auckland was bathed in sunlight, showing off some of its breathtaking sights. It seems to have gone out of its way to cater both for its citizens and for the many tourists visiting there. We have been to many exotic and wonderful destinations but few can compare with the Auckland waterfront and harbour in terms of accessibility to the many attractions and world-class tours. Cruise ships dock right in the heart of the city.
One of the drawbacks to Auckland is that houses there cost an arm and a leg and are extraordinarily expensive to us. The median house price in NZ dollars is now around $700,000, which neatly translates to over R7, 000,000. It is one of the most expensive cities in the world in which to buy property. We visited a very nice, modern apartment with no view but a pleasant courtyard garden. It measures 56 square metres and is beautifully planned but really tiny. It cost the equivalent of R4, 250,000. At home it would cost a quarter of that.
The fall in the value of the Rand makes it increasingly unaffordable for South Africans to travel, to pay for hotel accommodation and to eat in restaurants, let alone to buy anything much. Dinner for four people at an Italian restaurant, where we had pizzas and pasta and one carafe of ordinary white wine, with other soft drinks, cost us the equivalent of R2, 000.00.
While we were in Auckland, the newspapers reported that New Zealand is the fourth least corrupt country in the world in terms of the 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index released by Transparency International. If that unimaginable news applied to South Africa, most of us would throw a party. In New Zealand, it elicited concern because this was the lowest dip in the rankings since 1998. Denmark, Finland and Sweden narrowly pipped New Zealand, filling places one, two and three in the rankings of the least corrupt countries in the world. We noted that six of the ten most corrupt countries are on the African continent. South Africa graded 61 out of 167 countries. Not as bad as we feared.
One learned commentator stated that it would be devastating for the country’s economy if it became accepted that corruption was creeping in. New Zealand has a reputation to uphold. The leader of the opposition stated that the prime minister should be quicker to fire ministers when there are problems or else open independent inquiries into alleged irregularities.
We were struck repeatedly by the kindness and courtesy of ordinary people. They are service-oriented and aim to please, avoiding giving offence at all costs. The public discourse is very civilised and tolerant. South Africans who live there - and there are many of them - seem happy and are generally regarded as good citizens who work hard. There are many Afrikaans-speakers and at Sydney airport on our way to Auckland, we heard more Afrikaans spoken by those in the queue than we did at OR Tambo.
People must follow their dreams but I always am heart sore at the thought of so many good people who have left our country, taking with them their skills, their job-creating ability, their children and their tax-paying potential. Several millions are now in the diaspora and I wonder whether our government is even aware of the loss this is to the whole of South Africa. If we follow better policies and put things right, offering a more promising future, many of those who have left might be persuaded to return and use their talent and experience to help us build our country.
After Auckland, we flew to Wellington, that charming small capital city, to board our ship, Seabourn Odyssey. Seabourn describes itself as the “best cruiseship line in the world.” Certainly, our beautiful suite and everything on offer at the highest level on board supports the claim. I am singing for my supper, delivering talks on world affairs to daily audiences of informed, educated and mostly well-travelled passengers who are well-disposed towards South Africa.
As we made our way down the coast of South Island, calling at Akaroa (Christchurch), Dunedin, Halfmooon Bay and cruising in Milford Sound, the passengers marvelled at the beauty of New Zealand. Some of the sights have been breathtaking and all of the towns we have seen have been sparkling clean and welcoming.
As I write, we are ploughing through the Tasman Sea, which is very rough today. We are looking forward to spending a day each at Hobart, Burnie, Melbourne, Geelong, Sydney and Brisbane, only being able to touch the surface of fascinating Australia, before flying back to what I believe could be the best country on earth to live in – South Africa.
Douglas Gibson is a former Opposition Chief Whip and former ambassador to Thailand.
This article first appeared in The Star.
