Slowly but surely the Western Cape is turning Dutch once more, as so many white Afrikaners sell it all and retire there to get away from the political wilderness in the rest of the country.
The only other place in S.A you find as notable an Afrikaans presence as the Western Cape is Pretoria, or the more eloquently phrased ‘Snor City’, incidentally my hometown for the past decade or so.
Personally, I love going to Cape town as Lebbing it out for a long weekend or so in the Mother City is always a welcome treat, especially since a large portion of my friends looked up the holiday lifestyle, and made the pilgrimage during the past years.
Yet, somehow, whenever I step foot of the flying fire trucks of 1Time (they really have the best seats of all the carriers), at OR Tambo after having given Long Street my best during the weekend, I feel the surge of homeliness wash over me...
The surge soon becomes a sigh of relief when I get off at the Gautrain’s Hatfield Station, or turn onto Rigel Avenue, depending which mode of transport I used to get to the airport initially.
There is much to hate about Pretoria, most notably the rugby team, and in particular their captain, especially when he plays his brand of touchies for the Boks.
In fact, we are quite a number of guys who subsequently supported the Sharks since our school days, even though none of us hails from KZN. All this simply because free choice was more important than accepting your doomed fate as a Bulls supporter due to your proximity to Loftus...
The others making the hate list include the abrupt seizure of any efforts to actually employ architectural design after 1930; making parts of the CBD seem quite impressive with its sandstone buildings, just to continue with structures that seem to be dedicated to the creative side of John Vorster.
All of the above are of course far seconds to the true reason people move to the Western Cape, mostly around Cape Town, chief amongst which is poor governance, nonexistent service delivery, racial marginalisation... you know, pretty much everything the ANC stands for.
However, at this stage of my life, I wouldn’t want to defect to the Cape just yet, even though there are those who don’t know better than to criticize the Jacaranda capital of S.A, or Capetonians that believe that everything north of Bloemfontein is called Johannesburg.
As an alternative to immigration, Cape Town offers living standards close to that in Europe, without the hassle of getting some work done of course, yet still allows you to remain a resident of South Africa.
I am also fully aware that rule under the DA removes about 80% of the frustration the average South African has to endure in our ever constant battles with the impotent ANC.
The one thing that bothers me however, is the fact that people of the north move to the Western Cape to retire, welt...and eventually die there.
Kind of puts a new twist to the fact that Cape Town now becomes a Gauteng graveyard. On the other hand, Capetonians and Durbanites move to Gauteng to start living.
The Cape might as well have been another country within a country. Almost like Monaco, without the handy tax breaks of course.
In a country where most of the residents feel disinterested and negative, Cape Town stands out as a beacon of hope, where stability, logic and international standards are at the order of the day.
It’s sort of a backup plan if all goes to the toilet up here in this small smoggy province that keeps its finger on the pulse of the African economy.
I’ve never been interested in moving to another country due to political reasons, and in fact regarded those who did as something beneath a lawn landmine.
These days however, I’ve grown to accept that not all people have the guts to stay in Africa, and thus decided to upgrade the immigrants status to a (slightly) evolved amoeba.
Cape Town then... an amazing place in a stunning setting, with world class credentials such as Design Capital of the World, a wine industry which produces finished products instead of raw materials, and a place that generally just puts a smile on your face every time you visit.
However, for now, the bush veldt, sunny skies and peak traffic is not only acceptable to me... it makes me feel right at home and is part of a life I don't want to stop living right now...
...even though the garbage collectors are on strike again!
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