Searching for the spirit of the Great Heart

We have experienced another spate of negativity in South Africa recently, with a wave of people leaving, citing Eishkom, Zuma and crime as some of the things that make living here unbearable.

What follows, inevitably, from the recently departed is a litany of FaceBook posts that laud the beautiful place they now live in, or numerous comments on every single (even slightly) negative story that happened in SA, and why that would never happen wherever they have chosen to be.

You can all relax, I am not going to defend why I choose to stay here. Mandy Wiener
is the resident expert on why SA is worth fighting for, right here.

To those of you that have chosen to live elsewhere - I am happy for you. I am glad you are experiencing the life you want to, and I am thrilled that you can make a future for yourself that is all you’ve ever wanted.

I ask you in return, that when my neighbour is lamenting over the recent break in / rape / smash-and-grab, could you do her the courtesy of “weeping with those who weep”, without a smug reference to your new chosen country? Bad things happen everywhere, and yes, those of us who have stayed here know that the odds of those things happening here are ‘ever in our favour’. We don’t need reminding, thank you – concern and sympathy will go down better.

By staying, we are not defending the things that are wrong with our nation. We are grateful to be survivors in this extreme country of ours. (Brilliant piece, Ndumiso Ncgobo). We are proud of the wonderful people who are SA's most valuable exports. We know that, no matter where we go in the world, this is home, and nowhere else can be. And, as per the most beautiful places in the world, posted recently, we don't even have to go too far away on holiday.

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