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Youths wreck SA's image in UK
25/01/2007 07:23 - (SA)
Joylene van Wyk, Beeld
London - There was a time when British employers competed for the services of sturdy young South Africans, but no longer.
As arrogance, appalling behaviour and recklessness has become the norm in the past five years, British employers have given them a wide berth.
Charl van Rooyen of Inifinito Travel agency, which specialises in working holidays for young people in London, says South Africans are now thought to be so unreliable and undisciplined that employers are vying for Polish workers instead.
He says many young people, especially those from the rural areas, go to London, not only to work, but also to experience life.
Used floor for firewood
But, they are being overwhelmed by a culture of booze and drugs.
One tenant, who said he was "high", chopped up the wooden floor of the TV room in the house he shared, to get a fire going.
Parents don't believe what their offspring get up to in Britain.
Van Rooyen said that after the first three months all norms and values were thrown overboard.
They were replaced with a dissolute culture of binges, where young people tried to see how much they could get away with.
A young man who did not want to be named said group pressure in a foreign country was much greater than in your own.
"So, you drink and use dagga to fit in.
"Life here is one unending party."
'Spoiling our image'
A teacher who uses the underground regularly says South Africans are fond of using the f-word, and they spit on the platforms.
"They are spoiling our image.
"They even brag that they went to work half-drunk.
"These people are closing the doors for others who might want to work here."
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