“South Africa is God’s own country. Let’s not wreck it.”
Those thoughts crossed my mind recently when we had the privilege of again visiting Mpumalanga and the Kruger as we have done several times each year since we returned from Bangkok a few years ago. South Africa has too much to offer to allow it to be ruined by politicians and others who do not appreciate what we have been given and what we have built up together.
This time we stayed overnight at a delightful B ’n B called Blyde Mountain Country Lodge near Hoedspruit. Charming rooms, wonderful views and warm Afrikaans hospitality, all at a price that was eminently reasonable. People from overseas must be impressed by the quality on offer.
That night we dined at Hat ‘n Creek, an excellent restaurant that served good food immaculately, all out on a verandah lit by fairy lights that made the balmy evening seem special.
After breakfast the next morning, we travelled on to Ngala Safari Lodge, through the Timbavati gate. Ngala, owned by the World Wildlife Fund, is immediately adjacent to and sharing an unfenced border with the Kruger National Park. It is operated as a five-star resort by &Beyond. Although Orpen Camp is nearby, only the animals have free access and movement between the two reserves.
Having stayed there several times before, we were interested to note the quality of the major refurbishment that took up the first six months of this year. All carried out with taste and style, the bedrooms are beautiful and all of the facilities are of the highest quality. So they should be, of course; many of the guests are overseas tourists who have the dollars and pounds to spend on visiting us, creating many jobs for South Africans. One has a butler, an own 4x4 game-viewing vehicle, and a dedicated game ranger and tracker.
At each of the places we visited during this trip, and that included the filling stations and the restaurants along the way, as well as the places we stayed, the overwhelming number of people working, many but not all in managerial capacities, were black. There were also many white South Africans working side-by-side with their fellow employees. The over-riding impression was that they get on well with each other; they interact cheerfully and efficiently with the public; and seem to enjoy getting the job done.
The lie of racial friction, enmity, and fraught relations between blacks and whites, so assiduously fostered by Mr Julius Malema, his followers, and those in the governing party who are racists and who see electoral advantage in creating racial tension, was exposed yet again as a lie. The truth is that most South Africans of all races get along very well with each other and have adapted remarkably to the constitutional democracy we have created over the past generation.
Of course, there are exceptions: not everyone treats others with courtesy and respect; not everyone (black and white) has put racist attitudes and feelings aside. Many whites know that the vast majority of criminals are black and are fearful of that; many blacks resent the fact that most whites are better off, sometimes vastly better off, than most blacks.
What is needed is recognition among the politicians of the goodwill that really does exist between ordinary citizens so that the enormous potential of South Africa can be realised. We need to focus on what unites us; not what divides us. We must emphasise the bounties with which the Good Lord has blessed our country, making us one of the most resource-rich countries on earth.
Instead of talking about taking from each other “without compensation” as some idiot-politicians do, and even talking about not killing each other “at this stage,” we ought to focus on what can be done to achieve progress against poverty and inequality.
Acceptance of our inherent humanity, dignity and right to equality would be a good starting point. A refusal to accept school education ranging from poor to putrid in many of our schools would be another. A determination that all of us are entitled to decent health care is a third. A fourth is an absolute commitment to following policies that will result in work opportunities for millions more of our people.
None of this is impossible. If we dump outdated ideologies, resentments, grievances, prejudices and work at promoting national unity – not as a touchy, touchy feel-good – but as the result of tangible improvements in the lives and the life chances of all our citizens, all becomes possible in this generation.
At Ngala one evening after sundown, our tracker, Jimmy Ndubane plus our game ranger, Ross Kingsley and six of us stood enjoying our drinks at the side of the road under a marvellous African early evening sky. We were chatting about some of the truly extraordinary sights we had seen during our late afternoon drive when we heard the troupe of impala grazing near us begin making their characteristic “thh, thh” sounds, indicating alarm. Jimmy shone his torch into the dark and there stood a leopard, not thirty metres away from us.
We then saw the quiet, professional co-operation between two men, one black and one white, confident about each other’s competence and experience. Without haste, we were moved towards the vehicle and out of danger, marvelling again at the wonders of the South African bush and the heritage it represents for all of us. This was the best of South Africa, again.
In the words of our constitution, it “belongs to all who live in it.” That includes you and me as well and not just Mr Malema’s eight per cent of the voters. Let’s not wreck it.
A former opposition chief whip and former ambassador to Thailand, Douglas Gibson is now a keynote speaker and writer.
