I attended an AGM of the South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) in Durban on Saturday.
Later that day Sanef had its annual Nat Nakasa Award ceremony. The event was attended by the likes of President Jacob Zuma and CEOs of Cell C (whose network has rendered me almost unreachable) and Standard Bank.
It was the Cell C CEO Lars Reichelt, a foreign national who’s been here for three months, who raised an important point about people’s perception of our country. He said when he accepted the CEO position people back home warned him about relocating to a “very dangerous” South Africa. But Reichelt said all these fears were unfounded as SA had proved to be an awesome country. The man couldn’t stop singing SA’s praises, adding that the real problem was the PR (public relations) aspect, in terms of marketing and selling the country.
This reminded me of British motoring guru Jeremy Clarkson saying in his column that the perception of crime in the country, especially in Joburg, is blown out of proportion. This, according to me, raises a serious question whether we are eternal pessimists who fail to see any good in our country. My answer is that some concerns, such as crime and rape, are valid and that we ought to express our views on this freely, without seeking to cover them up for the sake of the image of SA.
The problem arises when certain South Africans make it their mission to portray our country as a generally horrible nation. Yes we have a few criminal and bad elements, but overall SA is a beautiful, vibrant and exciting country. Let’s do our bit by making our rainbow nation, despite its challenges, work. SA rocks… period!
This resonates well with what Dr Ivan Khoza, who said we are too modest. We should be aggessively promoting our country. A bit of arrogance is required.
ReplyDeleteSure there is crime in SA (like in most places I'd like to believe). But we South African are way too negative and this maybe we can even blame the media. I grew up in Soweto but have never been a victim of crime, I drive through places like Hillbrow at the most 'darkest hours'. Sure I've witnessed crimes happening to others and I don't dispute the fact, crime is a worldwide thing. But when it comes to Africa in general, the way we are portrayed is negative, whether as being HIV/AIDS carriers, criminals, the poorest of the poor, savages, illiterate. The positive in this country outweighs the negative, but if it's not shown, we will forever remain this way.
ReplyDeleteYou've hit the nail on the head, Thabo. Some of us (South Africans) are so eager to spread only the bad things about our country. Even worse, there's so much stereotyping and generalisation going around. No one is asking anyone to become the country's spindoctor, but we must also emphasise the positive stuff about SA.
ReplyDeleteJust to add to what you saying Arnold, SA has just successfully hosted the Confederations Cup - the Festival of Champions which feutures the world's top footballing countries. SA is indeed alive with possibilities. There is no scintilla of doubt in my mind that the country will host an even more successful Fifa soccer world cup next year.
ReplyDeleteCharisse asked me to post this comment on her behalf (she is unable to gain access to the comment section of my blog): "The Confed cup has been a huge suceess. There were limited incidences of crime, and while we came to the brink of an international diplomatic incident with the Egyption soccer team, there is much uncertainty on the whole issue.
ReplyDelete"Yet, it dominated the media, with so many quick finger the crime issue, even though it is not at all clear who is in fact to blame for the robbery of the certain of the players.
"I am sooo looking forward to the World Cup. Let's fly that SA flag high." - Charisse
Charisse, we as the country are surely on the right path. We've so much to celebrate, but we tend to pay more attention to the negative stuff.
ReplyDeleteOne Slovenic journalist who was here to cover the Confederations cup emphasised a very important point.
ReplyDeleteHe said that South Africans are their own biggest enemies.
He also said that our media tends to publish negative front page stories every day. According to him, if we constantly publicize our own crime via the media than how can we expect the international community to not think SA's a crime haven?
We need to start focusing on the good the country has to offer and eventually the world will pick up on that too.
We just have to tell it like it is, without any form of embellishment or exaggeration! The fact will always remain... SA is a cool country to live in.
ReplyDeleteCharisse further commented: "I met with a foreign national yesterday. He has no intention of leaving this country (Home Affairs permitting). He also believes that we South Africans just don't realise how good we have it, and that we are far too critical of ourselves - especially of our soccer team."
ReplyDeleteI am optimistic that the new Home Affairs Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma will fix the terrible ministry. If Dlamini-Zuma's track record is anything to go by, then Home Affairs is bound to come right.
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