The past few months I’ve had the privilege of traveling to a number of countries in southern Africa. I’ve always traveled for work, but recently it’s become a lot more intense. It has its drawbacks — I find I get very angry very quickly at airport delays, and miss my home and loved ones. But it’s also stimulating and very educational.
The thing about travel is that it educates you twice. When you visit a new country you learn a lot about that place, meet interesting people and view the world from a new perspective. And then when you return home you see the familiar with new eyes and with the benefit of richer insight.
One thing I’ve known for a long time, but which I’m made more and more aware of all the time, is how much more Malawians and Zambians and Tanzanians and almost everybody knows about South Africa, than South Africans know about Zambia or Tanzania or Malawi or just about any other country on our continent. I can have detailed conversations in Lilongwe or Maputo or Lusaka about Thabo Mbeki and his policies, and even about his presumed successor, Jacob Zuma. Yet back home, many people would be hard-pressed to even name the president of most neighbouring countries, let alone would-be successors or opposition figures.
A large part of the problem is the South African media. With one or two exceptions, most SA news media behave as if Africa didn’t exist north of the Zambezi (Zimbabwe is the one place that does get a lot of attention). Sometimes it seems the only reason for the occasional mention of other places is that Bafana Bafana happens to be playing a game there. Those who want to stay informed about the continent, have to actively look for information online.
Recently some Friends were going on about Americans and how ignorant they are, how they think Africa is a country instead of a continent. I decided to point out that we South Africans aren’t much better. Show them a map of Africa and see how many can find Chad, Nigeria or even the DRC? Well, I wasn’t very popular.
Another thing I’m constantly made aware of, is that South Africans are seen as very violent, and SA is known for its crime and corruption. I get a bit nervous traveling to a new place — is it safe, will I get through passport control OK, and all of the other things one worries about. But my mild butterflies are nothing compared to the trepidation visitors from other countries must feel when approaching a South African border post. Will they be harassed by corrupt cops, will they be robbed or attacked? Will their luggage be stolen at OR Tambo international?
Someone on the plane recently told me he works in South Africa but misses his family who are back home. “Can’t you bring your family over?” I asked him. “I could”, he replied, “but SA is no place to raise a family”. A sobering thought.
I was left with some more food for thought when some Malawians told me recently they they are worried that South Africa will give the entire continent a bad name when we host the 2010 World Cup. “What if one of the star players is attacked and even killed?”, said one, “how will Africa look then, in the eyes of the world?” I don’t think South Africans fully realise the huge responsibility we have not only to our own country, but to the entire continent, to ensure that 2010 is a success.
