"I'm ashamed to be South African"

Brown: Nomfundo Xulu - The Times

Where will we go when SA is destroyed?

We are a barbaric nation and we are our own worst nightmare.

There came a point in my life when I was desperately seeking a domestic worker because I could not cope with my job , my baby and all my household chores.

I went to the advertisement board at a nearby convenience store and took down a few contact details. I called a number of women and set up appointments with six of them.

One of them, a South African , did not pitch up. But she sent me a cellphone message to call her . When I phoned her back, she asked if I could pick her up because she did not have money for transport .

I told her that five other women , who were not South African, had managed to make it to my house at the specified times. One even came with her young child strapped to her back.

This episode, among many others, made it clear to me that, as South Africans, we have an attitude of entitlement. We think that the world owes us something.

This is truer for black people. No offence, but we, directly or indirectly, think apartheid is something to hold onto so that we can be viewed as victims and everything should be smooth sailing for us.

Here we are 14 years since the beginning of democracy in South Africa and we are still holding onto 1976.

A large number of us are failing to empower ourselves with education or to grab any opportunity to learn more and make a difference. So we abuse people who are merely trying their best to make a living.

The recent attacks on foreign people are proof that we are a stupid nation.

“They are stealing our jobs and raping our women,” say the culprits responsible for the hundreds of innocent children now living in tents with their families.

How on earth is a person to fend for his or her family while South Africans sit in the sun, gossiping and complaining the whole day, in true township style, about foreigners stealing their jobs?

How is it that a person who goes out of his or her way to secure a job and tries to do it well deserves to be beaten up and even burnt?

I do not understand how we have been engineered as South Africans. I know not all of us are of the same mentality, and educated citizens are completely against these acts. But the rapidness with which these attacks have spread is a national disgrace.

Why is it that we do not take part in activities that build the country in such a quick and collective way? But when it comes to things that not only destroy people’s lives but also our country’s economy and credibility, why are we so quick to contribute ?

We call ourselves a civilised nation? I’m ashamed to be South African.

We are a barbaric nation and we are our own worst nightmare.

I wonder what will happen when we finally reach our goal of thoroughly ruining our country — its economy, its credibility and its social values — and are in need of help from the very people we are killing.

Are these countries then expected to take care of our children like they did in the apartheid era so that our children come back to South Africa as educated, wise and capable leaders?

Or do these countries also have the right to beat our children up, burn them to death and chase them out as if they are criminals?