I have become disenchanted with my native land. Upon arrival in South Africa a month ago, I felt a great sense of sadness. I can't quite explain it. Perhaps it was due to the fact that I had, during my time studying overseas, painted a highly nostalgic and unrealistic picture of home. Highly understandable when you consider the extent to which I was homesick. However, my experience at the Frankfurt airport along with a couple back home, have made me become a little frustrated with South Africa. We're such an unhappy and angry people. We truly are. The only time we bother to be friendly and unite as a nation is when we are confronted by foreigners (Western foreigners to be exact). Because the one thing South Africans hate more than being criticised, is being criticised by others. Particularly those in the West.
The incompetence of government, unfriendly glances from fellow South Africans at Frankfurt airport, constant striking on the part of teachers, exorbitant display of wealth by civil servants and complaints by privileged South Africans who have nothing or very little to complain about, have truly done my head in. I don't want to return to the UK or anything, but I would very much like to leave South Africa for a while. I get that no place is perfect but reading the newspapers or watching the news has depressed me significantly. There's no nationhood among us. There's no sense of unity. We're all divided. Not only racially, but culturally and economically.
It seems Nelson Mandela's efforts to build a rainbow nation were indeed in-vain.
