I am still pissed off! I am still mad as anything about my issues with paying taxes but when I look around me, I feel the pang of yearning, a feeling of acknowledgement that what makes me a South African is within me.
I read all the replies to my article about my anxiety and anger; and decided to take the challenge put forward by Lepogo to re-examine whether it was all doom and gloom and nothing good. I marinated a sarcastic response but I figured that is not South African.
Elasticity
South Africans are elastic human beings, they bounce back. Everything could be hard and harsh around them but they know how to get themselves together and move on. They may never forget or stop talking about it, but they move on. FOR HOW LONG? How long will people keep bouncing back, turning the other cheek, without saying “enough is enough”? I’ll wait and see and admire their elasticity in the meantime.
Optimistic
South Africans are always looking on the bright side of life, even at the worst times in their lives – they find something to laugh or smile about and look forward to. In tswana and most likely most South African languages we have a proverb, “Loso legolo setshego” (Even in dire times, laugh). I don’t know who laughed when the current Energy minister said we must go to bed early, to grow and be cleverer when she addressed the energy crisis in the country. I didn’t! I was ashamed that the cabinet ministers sleep in parliament and are still not clever enough to realize they have 10 years to avoid a crisis!
Smile
South Africans smile, even when someone is treating them or saying Kak to them, they smile and move on. I have seen old people being treated really bad by the youth – some as old as their great-grandchildren – but they just smile and walk away. In that, you believe in karma; what goes around comes around. When something that government should handle for me affects my life, I smile.
Take it and run!
South Africans are entrepreneurs; when something uncomfortable happens – an idea is born. Can you imagine how many businesses are raking in the money since this energy crisis started? People are coming to the party with ideas, gadgets and ways to help everyone divert the amount of damage this crisis could do. I have faith in the South African minds and means of ensuring things work out.
Community driven
South Africans care about each other; in a lot of ways when something happens that affects the community – everyone feels the pain. They hurdle around and find a way to help, how many children have been received medical assistance for sometime deadly diseases from complete strangers. The anonymous sponsor would just pay and give someone a better life.
I do all the above things and I know I will bounce back, smile, laugh, take the opportunity presented to me to sell a million Chinese gas products to the community and move on!
11 Comments
Only TVSA members can reply to this thread. Click here to login or register.