Stereotypes and assumptions about Saffas

In my last post about South Africa, I mentioned that many British people are surprised to meet a South African who is proud of their home, and not a cynical racist, etc. And on Wednesday, I had an unfortunate encounter that provided an excellent example of the stereotype we need to fight:

I was making a follow up call to one of our potential sales clients, going throught the motions with my supervisor next to me, when the guy I was talking to suddenly interrupted to say:

guy: I love your South African accent!
me: oh, um, that's great. well spotted! Its not everyone's favourite accent...
guy:do you speak afrikaans?
me: um, ja, I took it at school, but its not my first language *glancing over at supervisor, shrugs*
guy: we had this hysterical man who i used to work with who was South African
me: oh, um, really, that's great *thinking, how do i get this back to work, before boss kills me*
guy: he used to do this hysterical (second time in two sentences) thing. Spoke like a totally normal guy, until he was talking to anyone with a little more than a tan, know what i mean, *chortle*, then turn on this thick accent, and start calling them Sonny or something...hysterical(yes, third times the charm)! *nasal laugh, blockage, snort*
me: *oh, shit! i dont want to laugh along, but I cant call him a bigot with my boss sitting here*
guy: anyhoo (yes he actually said that), nice to hear a South African accent from a lovely lady
me:*oh, my god. he's trying to flirt with me. laugh about racism to a total stranger, then hit on them - what the hell is he thinking???*
me: okay, nice talking to you. give us a ring if you have any more questions. *hangs up*

I've had this in South Africa a couple of times, when people assume because I'm white, I'll hold the same views as they do, but from a Brit it was just fecking weird. And I can only assume that it is because this man's exposure to Saffa's has reinforced this for him, and note that he never questioned what colour I was. He just assumed that I was white, maybe because I said I took afrikaans at school??

This stuff tires me out. And I've got to stop blogging about racism - it gets me down, but I think we need to look at ourselves and the image we project. I want to be the person who breaks the mould. If Joe Brit has only met negative old-south-africans before, I want to open their eyes. I wanted to cringe and die when I saw people waving the old flag at the rugby last year. I wish people who feel like that wouldnt identify themselves as South Africans....

Sorry this is turning into a rant. Its over. Promise.

loving home, hating crime

There are soooo many websites out there about SA's crime problem. Some have gained notoriety as forums for racists and cynical white folk who fled and need to justify it to themselves.

Some, however, have sprung up in response to the "shock-sites", and aim to put forward a different voice - one that says, "Ja, SA has problems, but look at what else we got".
I'm a big fan of these, even though it can be tiring having repetitious fights with nay-sayers along the lines of:

me: i love SA
them: ja, but the crime is hectic
me: i know, but i still love home
them: ja, but the crime is shocking
me: and i want that to change too, but i can think that and love SA
them: ja, but you cant deny how bad the crime is
me: aaaaargghhhh!

Anyway, this has become an interest of mine, since I left home last year for this current chilly experience. I am overseas and having fun (most of the time) and missing home (most of the time too) and VERY VERY conscious of being an ambassador for South Africa. I have already been told a number of times by colleagues that most Saffas they meet are extremely negative about SA, and have a major chip on their shoulders about BEE and the ANC.

This is the impression that I have to fight against: Not all white Saffa's are anti-ANC, and there are loads who are nothing but optimistic about our country's future. I'm from the school of if you cant say something positive, dont say anything - not in a denialist sense - but if crime is your concern, bring me a plan or solution or contribution! I'm not asking you to pretend it isnt happening! Just looking for some action...or the bigger picture.

Here is the reverse of a familiar stat about SA tourism: Every potential tourist you send away, removes 1/8 of a job - increasing the number of people who may have to turn to crime to survive...

anyway, i've loads more to say, but lets leave it at this for a moment

Please feel free to argue with me on this. I am well aware that I am no authority on this and make no claim to be. I've put out my opinion. What's yours?

SA Rocks - well, yes it does!

Thanks to Nic for bringing this gem to my attention (through the terror of time-consumption known as facebook).

Check out SA ROCKS! And lets punt, punt, punt this beautiful country of ours. I'm so tired of the same old northern-western-centric "scary africa" bollocks. Oh, and the people behind that SA crime expo site (which i refuse to link to) must piss off and direct their copious amounts of negative energy elsewhere, like towards Telkom, maybe...

In Nic's own words (hope you dont mind, Nic!?):
"The principal behind sarocks.co.za is to create positive hype around South Africa. I feel that there are enough websites and people constantly saying negative things about South Africa, it's time for a positive representation of our country..."