GPSA Weekly Views

This week Charles gives us a run-down on his thoughts on returning to South Africa.

From here to there?????

My family and I left SA for the UK for family reasons in 1990, after living there since 1968, – my father was taken ill after my mother died suddenly in ‘89 and was not flourishing in a nursing home. We had an enjoyable 7 years with him before he finally succumbed to a stroke. By the time I hit the big 60 in ’03 it became obvious that lucrative contract work was becoming hard to find, (ageism is not dead), and after a family visit to SA in July ‘03 we decided to return to SA and to consider selling our house in northern Jhbg to fund the purchase of a modest guest farm in the N.Transvaal, sorry, Northern, no, try again, Limpopo Province. We thought of somewhere north of Warmbad, sorry, Bela Bela, and south of Pietersburg, sorry, Polokwane. Our house in SA is near a main road, and since 1990 the area has been transformed from a nice clean, almost rural suburb into a messy urban melee of taxi traffic accidents, hawkers and thieves. Not surprisingly we are not keen on exchanging a very quiet rural house in the UK for that on a permanent basis.

Prices of suitable properties looked not too bad, and any ideas of a reasonably comfortable semi or full retirement in the UK were knocked out of court by the sky high cost of living. So we made the decision that we would return to SA. This decision was aided by the fact that my wife’s family are all in SA, whereas I have almost no close family left in UK. And the weather, the weather, the weather…………..

All along I have monitored comments on websites such as gpsa.co.za, africancrisis.org, and several others, thus I was aware but not overly concerned about the incredibly high crime rate. The crime rate in SA has always been high, particularly in the townships, and when you add Nigerians, Zims and just about every other African and Eastern European nationality into the pot, stir with AIDS and Uhuru, the crime rate can only increase. Like many others I thought that eventually the government would HAVE to do something about crime, although perhaps that was a naive thought, since even a UK government cannot bring itself to be nasty to criminals. South Africa goes one step further though, and let some out of jail to celebrate each day of the week. If you can’t wait till Friday just pay R250 and you can walk!

Reading Jan Lamprechts articles (africancrisis.org) about farm murders is obviously very worrying for anyone considering the purchase of even a modest farm – one tries to find a pattern, and the only discernible pattern is the old South African story – the attackers are Black, the farmers are White, but now the Police have no capability, or in some cases, interest in apprehending the murderers. I suppose that some would simply say that the police position is simply a negative image of the situation pre 1994. What is obvious is that there are a number of people in authority who feel that the Whites have no rights, despite the very liberal constitution.

So-we-to now? We will definitely return to South Africa, but we will certainly be considering our permanent options. As well as looking at the situation and property in SA we will also be seriously looking at Zambia and Mozambique for the longer term. I was working in Zambia in ‘98, and was quite impressed by the general attitude between Black and White. Certainly walking around the streets in Ndola I felt far more relaxed (and safer!) than I found I was in Jhbg later that year, or even in Abidjan (Cote d’Ivoire) in 2000. You still have to watch your mobile phone & camera wherever you are, though. In 2003 I did not even bother to go into the centre of Jhbg, since it had changed from a once pleasant city to a rather tawdry suburb of Soweto.

The sad thing is that when one looks at Africa after 50 years of independence it is so hard to believe that no government except maybe Botswana seems to have learnt that the only way to advance is to cooperate with and to learn and benefit from the knowledge and experience that the First World has brought to Africa. Instead, African government in general seems to be simply a vehicle for self-enrichment, nepotism and tribal power. All problems can still be blamed on colonialism and the White man. No one expects the bad things of bygone days to be forgotten, but equally, no one expects the sins of former generations to be paid for by children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. If retribution worked like that, Germany and Japan would still be empty and deserted!

A history of African independence I read recently is very interesting*, but to some extent the book reads like a history of Groundhog Day, because, no matter whether the governments are Marxist, Socialist, Military or “Democratic” they all follow the same route – elections to one party state to dictatorship to collapse to coup to elections and round the circle once again, with the amount of loans and stolen aid rising all the time but bringing no benefits to the general population.

I cannot go as far as to say that I have complete faith in a bright future for South Africa. To a great extent I think everyone is holding their breath until Nelson Mandela dies – at worst, if some rumors are to be believed there could well be a major “White Clean Up” on the evening of his funeral, but, lesser of two evils, it is quite possible that Mbeki will feel less constrained and could try to make things “even better” for the ANC voters (more likely the ANC officials, bugger the voters!) with the reverse effect on everyone else. Neither will bring good news for the Whites, or even non ANC blacks, Coloureds or Indians. My hope is that common sense, if any is available, will prevail, and that the future will be peaceful. But, as the guy said who thought he could harness and ride a lion “at least it will be an interesting ride!”

Of course, Mbeki could gain great credibility in SA, Africa and worldwide if he can bring Mugabe to heel, but personally I think it more likely that in bringing him to heel he will have his shoes stolen. If he can do it, it would show his heart is in the right place…. well, sort of.

Of course, I have stupidly passed up the opportunity of a lifetime – why not emigrate to Zimbabwe. Land is cheap, but you don’t keep it for long so maintenance costs are low. A pound goes a long long way if changed into Z$, but you can’t buy anything with it so your money lasts a long time. Wear and tear on your car is non-existent, because there is no fuel to drive anywhere. (Although if the oil price keeps climbing we may all be in that boat!). Although, if Mugabe pops his clogs………………

* Reference “The State of Africa” by Martin Meredith, ISBN0-7432-3221-6. Simon & Schuster 2005.

Note : This book is available from Kalahari.net at R144.00 excl. shipping (paperback). Click the banner at the top to order.

Weekly View
	18 August 2005
This week Charles gives us a run-down on his thoughts on returning to South Africa. From here to there????? My family and I left SA for the UK for family reasons in 1990, after living there since 1968, – my father was taken ill after my mother died suddenly in ‘89 and was not flourishing in a nursing home. We had an enjoyable 7 years with him before he finally succumbed to a stroke. By the time I hit the big 60 in ’03 it became obvious that lucrative contract work was becoming hard to find, (ageism is not dead), and after a family visit to SA in July ‘03 we decided to return to SA and to consider selling our house in northern Jhbg to fund the purchase of a modest guest farm in the N.Transvaal, sorry, Northern, no, try again, Limpopo Province. We thought of somewhere north of Warmbad, sorry, Bela Bela, and south of Pietersburg, sorry, Polokwane. Our house in SA is near a main road, and since 1990 the area has been transformed from a nice clean, almost rural suburb into a messy urban melee of taxi traffic accidents, hawkers and thieves. Not surprisingly we are not keen on exchanging a very quiet rural house in the UK for that on a permanent basis. Prices of suitable properties looked not too bad, and any ideas of a reasonably comfortable semi or full retirement in the UK were knocked out of court by the sky high cost of living. So we made the decision that we would return to SA. This decision was aided by the fact that my wife’s family are all in SA, whereas I have almost no close family left in UK. And the weather, the weather, the weather………….. All along I have monitored comments on websites such as gpsa.co.za, africancrisis.org, and several others, thus I was aware but not overly concerned about the incredibly high crime rate. The crime rate in SA has always been high, particularly in the townships, and when you add Nigerians, Zims and just about every other African and Eastern European nationality into the pot, stir with AIDS and Uhuru, the crime rate can only increase. Like many others I thought that eventually the government would HAVE to do something about crime, although perhaps that was a naive thought, since even a UK government cannot bring itself to be nasty to criminals. South Africa goes one step further though, and let some out of jail to celebrate each day of the week. If you can’t wait till Friday just pay R250 and you can walk! Reading Jan Lamprechts articles (africancrisis.org) about farm murders is obviously very worrying for anyone considering the purchase of even a modest farm – one tries to find a pattern, and the only discernible pattern is the old South African story – the attackers are Black, the farmers are White, but now the Police have no capability, or in some cases, interest in apprehending the murderers. I suppose that some would simply say that the police position is simply a negative image of the situation pre 1994. What is obvious is that there are a number of people in authority who feel that the Whites have no rights, despite the very liberal constitution. So-we-to now? We will definitely return to South Africa, but we will certainly be considering our permanent options. As well as looking at the situation and property in SA we will also be seriously looking at Zambia and Mozambique for the longer term. I was working in Zambia in ‘98, and was quite impressed by the general attitude between Black and White. Certainly walking around the streets in Ndola I felt far more relaxed (and safer!) than I found I was in Jhbg later that year, or even in Abidjan (Cote d’Ivoire) in 2000. You still have to watch your mobile phone & camera wherever you are, though. In 2003 I did not even bother to go into the centre of Jhbg, since it had changed from a once pleasant city to a rather tawdry suburb of Soweto. The sad thing is that when one looks at Africa after 50 years of independence it is so hard to believe that no government except maybe Botswana seems to have learnt that the only way to advance is to cooperate with and to learn and benefit from the knowledge and experience that the First World has brought to Africa. Instead, African government in general seems to be simply a vehicle for self-enrichment, nepotism and tribal power. All problems can still be blamed on colonialism and the White man. No one expects the bad things of bygone days to be forgotten, but equally, no one expects the sins of former generations to be paid for by children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. If retribution worked like that, Germany and Japan would still be empty and deserted! A history of African independence I read recently is very interesting, but to some extent the book reads like a history of Groundhog Day, because, no matter whether the governments are Marxist, Socialist, Military or “Democratic” they all follow the same route – elections to one party state to dictatorship to collapse to coup to elections and round the circle once again, with the amount of loans and stolen aid rising all the time but bringing no benefits to the general population. I cannot go as far as to say that I have complete faith in a bright future for South Africa. To a great extent I think everyone is holding their breath until Nelson Mandela dies – at worst, if some rumors are to be believed there could well be a major “White Clean Up” on the evening of his funeral, but, lesser of two evils, it is quite possible that Mbeki will feel less constrained and could try to make things “even better” for the ANC voters (more likely the ANC officials, bugger the voters!) with the reverse effect on everyone else. Neither will bring good news for the Whites, or even non ANC blacks, Coloureds or Indians. My hope is that common sense, if any is available, will prevail, and that the future will be peaceful. But, as the guy said who thought he could harness and ride a lion “at least it will be an interesting ride!” Of course, Mbeki could gain great credibility in SA, Africa and worldwide if he can bring Mugabe to heel, but personally I think it more likely that in bringing him to heel he will have his shoes stolen. If he can do it, it would show his heart is in the right place…. well, sort of. Of course, I have stupidly passed up the opportunity of a lifetime – why not emigrate to Zimbabwe. Land is cheap, but you don’t keep it for long so maintenance costs are low. A pound goes a long long way if changed into Z$, but you can’t buy anything with it so your money lasts a long time. Wear and tear on your car is non-existent, because there is no fuel to drive anywhere. (Although if the oil price keeps climbing we may all be in that boat!). Although, if Mugabe pops his clogs……………… Reference “The State of Africa” by Martin Meredith, ISBN0-7432-3221-6. Simon & Schuster 2005. Note : This book is available from Kalahari.net at R144.00 excl. shipping (paperback). Click the banner at the top to order.	Past Views Current Joke Past jokes Gallery Links Current Exchange Rate Daily News Headlines Articles
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