I’m not poor, either rich. I am an ordinary South African who survives from hand to mouth. I am a patriot.
I wave the country’s flag with pride and sing our national anthem with contentment. At times I shed a tear when our national anthem reverberates through stadia at major sporting events. I value our currency although it’s worth nothing compared to the Pound, Dollar and the Euro. I cherish all our national symbols, languages and cultures. I admire the diversity of our nation and the resilience of its citizens. We’ve been through many things together as a nation and came out stronger on the other side of our struggles.
We are like gold that goes through the fire and comes out shining bright.
These have nothing to do with the government but they are what sets us apart as South Africans. I stand boldly in front of other nations and say: “I am a South African”.
Nothing, I mean nothing will change my mind about this country and my loyalty to it. I’d rather be part of a team that seeks solutions to our ongoing challenges. I want my kids to proudly say they are “South Africans” when they get older and pass this on to their children.
Being a South African forms part of my identity and this became crystal clear when I spoke to my black American confidante, Charles. He believes his roots are in Ghana but knows nothing about the country. His dream is to visit Ghana and hopefully find some of his relatives. Charles is not proudly American although he was born and raised in Los Angeles. He believes slavery deprived him of his real identity.
All this played in my mind recently as I witnessed a group of 59 white South
African refugees being paraded in the United States of America (USA), waving the flags of their adopted nation after touching down at Dulles International Airport. They all heeded a call by Donald Trump to accept refugee status in that country based on lies.
These white refugees know truly well that there is no genocide in SA. There is no killing of white people by black people in our nation. We embrace each other’s beliefs and culture. We laugh and cry together.
Most importantly, we are all affected by crime. There are no targeted killings of a certain race or group of people.
A question arose in my mind, why would someone leave the comfort of his home and sacrifice everything they had worked hard for to be a refugee in another country? What would it take for me to walk away from South Africa?
No amount of money or lies would prompt me to sacrifice my origin or South African citizenship to be a displaced person in another country.
Only a deep-rooted hatred of all or some of the above.
