LETTER: From afar, SA looks silly and irrelevant

For years I believed many expatriate South Africans criticise the country to justify their decision to leave. I have now been in Sydney for the past eight months and have seen that this is not the case.

The South Africans here are mostly fiercely patriotic about their homeland but hugely embarrassed about its international image. We are generally seen as irrelevant. We have a great reputation as excellent rugby players, everybody knows of Siya Kolisi, beautiful Cape Town and Table Mountain, and our many game parks.

We seldom feature in the international media, but when we do, we read and hear that we are part of the “axis of evil” (Russia, China, Iran and some of the tyrannical Middle Eastern states), we have no electricity, no armed forces, no money, little integrity, and we are engulfed in violence.

President Cyril Ramaphosa was recently shown here wearing a Palestinian scarf, and Julius Malema ranting in his silly red beret. Even Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping don’t walk around in fancy dress. Western leaders are always decently attired.

We look like a train smash in slow motion. The problem is that we are the image we project, and until we change our conduct and policies, the status quo will remain. What happened to the miracle of the Rainbow Nation?

David Wolpert
Randwick, Australia

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