Proudly South African

2008-07-21 09:27

Andrea Botha

My recent News24 column and a subsequent radio talk show explored the different aspects of South African cultures. From the responses of both readers and radio listeners, it was obvious that people are very proud of their heritage, whether they are black, coloured, Afrikaans or from any other of the many cultures of the country. We are not called the Rainbow Nation for nothing.

But what about an identity as South Africans? Is there such a thing as a South African way of life? Apart from our individual heritages, is there a South African culture - common characteristics that set South Africans apart from, say, Pakistanis or Americans? Apparently yes, if a study by the SA Human Sciences Research Council is to be believed.

Announced on Sunday, the study found that the majority of South Africans, almost 60% of us, don't believe in doing physical exercise. It's official - we are a lazy bunch.

Close to 3 000 people of all races and ages were interviewed and remarkably, it was found only 8% did anything sporty during the day - whether it was playing soccer or going for a walk. We apparently think that watching sport on TV is about the same thing as taking part in it. For a people who sometimes seem bent on showing how different we are from one another, we certainly have a few things in common:

Beer

Whether you drink Castle, Heineken, Windhoek Light, Black Label or a homebrew, all SA cultures enjoy some kind of beer. I once had a friend (over a few beers of course) go on at some length, about how you could judge people by the beer they drank. He loved his beer.

If I hadn't interrupted him at some point, I swear he would've started crying. (He liked Tafel beer, by the way). But you can hardly blame South Africans for liking their beer. South African Breweries is the second largest beer producer in the world. We consume the most beer of any African country, a fact we may or may not be proud of.

Language

South Africa has 11 official languages, the country with the second most official languages in the world. But I think we should add another language - South African.

This language would include words like bru, which can be pronounced and written either like broer, bra or even bhuti. All of our different cultures seem to make provision for calling one another brother (and sister, to a lesser extent).

Other South African words would be - lekker - pronounced either lekka, lekkuh, or lêkke as well as nooit, cool (kewl/koel), sweet (schwiet, swiet) etc.

Naughty... naughty...

Do you pay all your traffic fines? Drive while talking on your cell or maybe after a few drinks too many? Ever claimed something from insurance that wasn't technically, exactly, totally, stolen?

Corruption affects all levels of the South African economy - from government to small business owners, CEOs and company employees. A TNS Research Survey recently revealed that the same South Africans who were vocal about slamming corruption were also willing to commit corrupt acts, like buying pirated DVDs and CDs and committing traffic offences.

These may be petty crimes, but they are not pretty and seem to indicate a very ambivalent attitude towards the law in a country desperately fighting crime.

Kind, caring and compassionate

When a spate of xenophobic violence gripped the country a few weeks ago, leaving thousands homeless as winter arrived, South Africans from all walks of life stepped up.

The first people to set up soup kitchens and bring blankets were not government officials - but the churches, the mosques and a variety of community and residents associations. Ordinary South Africans who had nothing to gain and weren't trying to get any press coverage for their good deeds.

What to make of all of this? As all South Africans living in this beautiful country know, there are a few things we need to work on, regardless of which race and culture we belong to. Instead of trying to distance ourselves from others, we need to come together to help bring about the change we would like to see around us.

I don't know, bru, but I reckon I'll start with paying my TV licence.

Send your comments to Andrea.

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