South Africa doesn’t smile at strangers

Oh well that's sad.

even when the windows are up? ???thats crazy!

 

Gosh, I read the piece with a feeling of deja vu. This is me coming to SA from the US to work for three months. It is so easy to tell a south african, they have this look on their face, this look of anger, resistance, aggression, you name it; something which was lacking in me.
I believe we Nigerians are lucky, even when the british were in nigeria, we were free not oppressed. We are so trusting and open and it shows in our face and in the way we greet.
So there I was in SA, having lived in the US where even where racism exists, it is veiled. Where I say hi to total strangers on the street, where I smile at the next person to me on the train, where strangers stop to pat another stranger's dog on the sidewalk.  There I was in South Africa, saying hi to whites and blacks alike and being ignored.
The whites because you were in their territory and because the only blacks they interact with were their domestic servants and they are like "doesn't she know her place?". The blacks because they instinctively recognize by your sunny disposition and cheerfulness that you are not SAfrican and are like "you don't know what I have been through". Maybe some blacks do that in the US but I have never experienced it. instead I have a posse of black american friends who see you as a black sister not a black from Africa.
Anyway, the only great expeience I have had so far in SA is that I am working for this three months with a Canada based firm and most of the staff are canadian or american and the south african (3 whites, 2 blacks) have lost some of their bigotry through interaction with other people.
I stay in a guest house and the owners are white while the domestics are of course black. The white woman goes like "the people (insinuating blacks of course) are unfriendly, don't you think?" I'm like "no, the whites never reply if u greet them but the blacks reply if they think you are Safrican".

And the crime stories, they are so true. I read in the paper (SA not CNN) things like
- police are still looking for the rapists of an infant (they believe sleeping with a virgin cures aid)
- two people were thrown off a fast moving train this morning after being robbed
etc. The Tsosti movie didnt do any better in calming my fears either.
My conclusion is SOUTH AFRICA IS A VERY XENOPHOBIC COUNTRY!

Nobody is arguing that South Africa is developed and beautiful. It is, I know because I am in Johannesburg right now. Their xenophobia doesn't just extend to nigerians alone; common, you mean they see me on the street and automatically know i'm a nigerian.
Fact is that this country is a very tense one, and it's because of their history. For real, I really don't doubt the story (u can search on nairaland) that black SAs are planning to kill whites when Mandela dies. It is very possible with the way things are in this country.
Of course, it's also hard for them to identify with the rest of the african continent, because south africa is a very racially diverse place. Imagine sending some SA delegates(black, white or indian) to an AU meeting where the rest of the african continent is busy talking "black this, black that".  It is this dynamics of things that make them kind of apart from the rest of black africa.
South Africa is very complex in ways that I can't even go into but , fact is - it is a very unfriendly place for foreigners living there.

i think this  is becas of their history. but i know they won't  preperly  smile at nigerians, as they hate us like hell. i took a south african history class n they seem to have so much hatre for nigerians, they believe that we  brougth  coruption to their country.

I have found a conversation on a South African forum, they were talking on Africa´s economic propects. Here is what a South African said:" I am a South Africa. I actually live and work in the africa for a US investment bank dealing with investments in africa and who deals with african governments every day as part of the job!!!Sorry but Africa (outside of SA) has some oppertunities to make money but none of it is well run by normal standards and as for living in it it is pretty miserable outside of SA and Botswana and Namibia. Sorry but whilst there is some good economic growth in parts of the continent it is still very badly run and things are not getting any better even worse. You go on about Angola and other african countries but i bet you would not at any cost like to bring up your kids in them!!! And I doubt in 50 years you would want to either. Sorry (, ) but that´s the reality. Corruption/incompetance/stupidity/skills shortages etc are NOT getting better here and in many places they are getting much much worse. Even with angola 20% is 20% of basically nothing and with all that oil it would be quite remarkable if they were not achieving such growth with current oil prices!!!"

I AM REALLY SHOCKED. Is this how they view the rest of Africa? Maybe someone can comment on it!No living outside SA and Namibia, perhaps beacause they are dominated by whites, ?

I'm a South African but I do respect all other countries and I hate it when you Nigerians are busy talking crap about your own country as that's what makes us bad of your country. The reason why mostl South Africans don't like other fricans is because of the crime they have commited.

Otherwise I think I need to divert the topic. I thought I should post the good things that are planned for Nigeria so that you people will stop blaming your politicians but instead appriciate the good things that are happening there and be actve in economic growth.

The following are what's going to happen in Nigeria.

Federal Government gives its approval for Nigeria's Technology Valley

12/5/2005

Vanguard (Lagos)

Emeka Nwosu

The Federal Government recently approved the establishment of a Technology Village for software and manpower development in the area of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), in Abuja, Nigeria's federal capital. The tech village is expected to cost between $600 to 800 Million Dollars.

According to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mallam Nasir el Rufai, who appears to be prime motivator behind the initiative, "what we hope to do with the village is to have the highest quality infrastructure attracting the best brains in information and bio-technology, pharmaceutical and IT research". The technology village is expected to provide employment for about 60,000 people, with the eventual aim of boosting growth and performance through information technology.

The Minister said though the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology had been working on the village since 2001, Nigerians in the diaspora interested in the village made it a reality by investing millions of dollars to do the business plan and feasibility study.

One of the aims of Nigeria's IT policy is for Nigeria to be an exporter of information technology products. India, which has already led other developing nations in this regard, benefits tremendously from the performance of its information technology industry. India is today the recognized and leading IT outsourcing hub in the world. With the global trend indicating phenomenal growth in outsourcing Nigeria can't afford to be left behind.

Some have dubbed the technology as Nigeria's Silicon Valley. The aim of the National IT policy and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is ensure Nigeria as a nation not just benefits from the advances in information technology, but also becomes a key player in information technology.

While information about the technology village mentions the involvement of Nigerians in diaspora, reports indicate that it is largely a government affair with still little input from local IT professionals.

Interesting some active participants in Nigeria's ICT sector are not too enamored with the choice of Abuja. For instance, the Computer and Allied Products Dealers Association of Nigeria would have preferred a development of Ikeja technology market - also known as the computer village - in Lagos which is Nigeria's current IT hotspot. And for many involved in IT, Lagos and not Abuja is where most IT activities are currently concentrated.

However, to make a meaningful impact, it is expected that the tech village will be a collaborative effort that addresses issues involving all stakeholders. It certainly appears to be a positive step for information technology empowerment in Nigeria.

The construction will begin in early 2007.

That's hilarious. The history of SA is disgraceful.

I'm proudly S.African. It's true that many SAfricans are xenophobic and that has to do with the many years the country spent in seclusion due to apartheid. It also has to do with the fact that many SAns (almost like Americans) don't bother to travel and learn about other cultures outside SA. After fighting for their country, most are just happy to enjoy being a free citizen of South Africa and don't see the need to travel outsitde and expand their view. It's bad, but this attitude is slowly changing, I see the changes all around me. The more foreigners come into SA, bringing skills and diversity with them, the more SAn attitudes are changing for the better. The more SAns travel outside, the more they come back with changed dispositions. The good thing is that most SAns travel out but come back to build their country, (I'm talking about black SAns) unlike the trend I see with many Nigerians who travel out for good, then write on their forums about what a bad/dirty place Nigeria is. We have crime here, lots of it, but at least you will hardly hear that a SAn has committed crimes in Nigeria, only the other way round. We have a great president who is doing a lot to change people's mindsets about other Africans. As for me I'm passionate about anything and anyone African 

Lol yea I hardly hear about daylight rape by HIV infected lunatics looking for a cure.  *rolle eyes*

I'd definitely hear stories of "yahoo boys" than that kind of shit.

carry go.

Excuse me. . .

This is very rude! I'm Nigerian as well as South African
and I find it highly insultive of u to jus blurt out summin
like that. VERY RUDE!! Crimes happen all over the world.
I've had terrible experiences in Nigeria as well as in Joburg.
It's proper stupid of any Nigerian to think they're betta than
a South African (or vice versa) Seriously!! Do not do unto others
what u wudn't want em to do unto uUnbelievable!

Every country has its own problems. . .
none is left out. Let's stop comparing and getta
reparingiight?!