CHRIS ROPER: Fencing Africa out with red tape
When would-be delegates from elsewhere in Africa were denied visas for a Wits University journalists’ conference, some suspected Pretoria must have something to hide
As South Africans, we’re used to the occasional embarrassing moments associated with being members of the rainbow nation. And that includes the actual term “rainbow nation”, given how monochromatic our political discourse is sometimes. There are two kinds of embarrassment, though.
The one is the cultural cringe when we do something crass. Having a rugby scrumhalf with blonde locks prancing around a victorious World Cup dressing room in nothing but a South African flag Speedo (or budgie smuggler, as I believe the Australians refer to it) is an example of that. But we finessed that one with patriotic good humour, and I believe someone turned it into a business opportunity...
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