Steemit Engagement Challenge Combines with Steemit Pakistan Community/ My country South Africa/”R”easons and “C”hanges
If I can write a love story today it will be on my love for South Africa. One of the countries in the world known for its natural beauty, cultural diversity and rich history.
So often it is said that if you want to tour the world all you need to do is to visit South Africa.
I invite you to sit back and enjoy the ups and downs of my country with me.
Why I LOVE my county…
The natural beauty
The coastline of South Africa stretched from the East (Warm Indian Ocean), down the South and up the West (Cold Atlantic Ocean). On your travel along the coastline you will find breath-taking beaches, diverse species of sea life which includes the endangered African penguin and various shipwrecks.
Keurboomstrand
A must visit is the beautiful winelands, small and colourful fisherman villages and not to be left out, one of the New Natural Seven Wonders of the World, Table Mountain.
Our inland travel take us through beautiful mountain passes, the Karoo (semi-dessert) home of the ostrich, through the Kalahari Desert tracking the trials of the cheetah, north to the Bushveld. Here you will find the Big5 (elephants, rhino’s buffalo’s, lions and leopards) all in one day.
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The people
With eleven official language and different cultures South Africa is known as the “The Rainbow Nation”.
As you know, at the end of each rainbow there are pots of gold. These are the people of South Africa. They warm and friendly who is forever smiling. We are passionate about our country and love to share it with others.
Sport unites the people of South Africa, from rugby, soccer, cricket and many other types of sport.
South Africans enjoy their food which is not only represent in the various cultures but which is also rich in flavours. On Heritage Day South African’s celebrates with our take on the BBQ which is called a “Braai”. This is the time when South Africans will lit their fires come rain or hail and the party will last for a long time.
South Africans is indeed one happy bunch of people!
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The history
When visiting South Africa for history purposes we can truly take you back many… many years ago right into the future.
Close to my hometown, Krugersdorp, you can visit the Cradle of Humankind where some of the oldest hominin fossils were found. Mrs. Ples, one of the fossils are estimated to be 2.3 million years old.
But let me take you through the history of South Africa;
| DATE | HISTORY |
|---|---|
1652 | The Dutch East India Company settle in Cape Town |
1795 | The British took over in the Cape as a British Colony |
1815 | One of the longest wars, the Anglo-Boer War took place started and ended in 1915 |
1867 | The discovery of diamonds in Kimberley |
1886 | The discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg region) |
1910 | South Africa is now known as the Union of South Africa |
1948 | The start of Apartheid |
1961 | South is now the Republic of South Africa and no longer part of England |
1994 | South Africa’s first Democratic Election |
2014 | Twenty years for freedom is celebrated |
2018 | The inaugurated of the MeerKAT Telescope took place |
2019 | South Africa was not spared in the global COVID-19 epidemic |
What I would like to CHANGE
Apartheid
If there is one word South Africa is known for and that is “Apartheid”.
Although apartheid officially came to an end when Nelson Mandela was elected as the first Black South African president during South Africa’s first democratic election the impact is still visible.
Apartheid and racism goes hand in hand for me and although South Africa is still known for it we all know that it is a global problem.
How I wish I can write “apartheid” and “racism” on a slate and wipe it off!
Corruption
Corruption is a huge problem in South Africa. According to a report of the Civil Society group Corruption Watch released on 01 April 2022 it was no April fool’s joke.
| Percentage | Type of Corruption |
|---|---|
18% | Maladministration |
16% | Procurement corruption |
16% | Abuse of Authority |
14% | Fraud |
12% | Misappropriation of resources |
It is clear that the government of South Africa is failing the people of South Africa. Where most economists thinks it is because of poor leadership for me it is just plain greediness and of people getting away with it.
In the last 10+ years we have seen many promises of which absolutely ZERO has materialised.
How I wish I can steal from the rich government employees and give to the poor!
Infrastructure
South Africa had very good infrastructures but unfortunately over the year’s local and provincial government departments failed to perform maintenance which result in infrastructure being neglected. We’ve also see hardly any new infrastructures being build
- Basic services like electricity has become so expensive that many households no longer can afford it
- There is inadequate water resources
- There is no reliable public transport and roads are falling apart
- Not enough schools and classrooms
- Not enough health care facilities and poor services at available hospitals and clinics
In general the growth of South Africa is hindered by the lack and poor maintenance of infrastructures.
How I wish that as ordinary citizens we can make our government listen to us!
In closure, no matter the changes I would like to make, South Africa is my country where I am making the most of it!
One of my favorite African countries I look forward in visiting in South Africa because of the great significance it is to me. A country of our great Nelson Mandela, o often get motivated when I think about your country 🥰 because it took sacrifice and bravery to be what it is today.
Corruption is the canker worm eating African countries nowadays and it a very bad practice that we should really stand tall to fight it
Oh, South Africa, here I come. You have vividly described your country and you have taken me round and I feel am there already.
The Rainbow National is a sweet name and I can't wait to visit. All the places you have described and it's history is so inviting.
Racism and Apatite are ugly words, I truly wish they can be written on a black board and wiped off as you said. But for now, we must have to deal with it.
Thanks for beautifully describing your city
I love my country and would truly like to show it to you one day.
Thank you for your positive replies on my post. It is appreciated!
Leyendo tu publicacion, puedo asegurar, que la historia de Sudafrica no es muy diferente a la historia de mi pais.
Claro cuentan, quizas, con una hostoria mas extensa y con detalles unico de esa tierra misteriosa.
lo que nombras del fosil Sra. Ples me parece de lo mas interesante. El continente africano a generado muchas postas sobre nuestros antepasados y Sudafrica no es la exepcion.
Me llamo mucho la atencion el que tu pais posea 11 lenguas oficiales, imagino que aparte de los doelactos autoxtonos que no son nombrados. La diversidad de la cultura en un pais lo puede convertir en un lugar unico y Sudafrica cumple con ello.
Me gusto mucho la referencia de La Nacion Arcoiris y como esto puede ser una sinonimo magico para mostrar la cultura y forma de ser del sudafricano.
Una de las cosas mas positivas que conoczco de tu pais es Nelson Mandela, para muchas una guia o un faro de luz contra la opresion de los grandes disctadores politicos e idealogicos que existen.
Mucchas veces uno conoce de un pais lo que los medios les interesa mostrar, gracias a tu publicacion, pude ver una sudafrica descrita por una sudafrica con criterio y buena voluntad.
Te felicito por tu publicacion.
Saludos.
Hasta la proxima...
My apologies for the late reply. I had to get to my computer to get to reply on this one :-)
Thank you for your wonderful feedback. I can see that you have read every word in my article.
If there was a test to be handed out you would have passed it with flying colour.
I had to search for your country as you do not mention it in your post. And so I had to discover it is Venezuela.
To my dismay I have to acknowledge that I knew very little about your country. All that I know is that I always look and support the International beauty pageants entries from your country as they are always absolutely stunning!!
In the meantime I have discovered your post on your country and I have learned so much. But enough in here. I will reply directly on your post. So... keep an eye open
Gracias... me alegra que te guste lo poco que conoces de mi pais. Lamentablemente mi pais cuenta con muy poca dibulgacion positiva tanto por algunos coterraneos como por muchos extranjeros.
Pero aca estamos y aca seguiremos.
Hasta la proxima...
Wow! Your post is outstanding with the help of those explicative tables. Learned something about the previous history and saw a quick glance of the entire scope of South Africa. Wish you a nice good luck for the contest and nice to meet you 🙂
Thank you for your kind words. If you could learn something from my beloved country it warms my heart.
I've come to realize that we actually know so little of the world. That is then also why this post was my first challenge post.
I hope I will reading a post from you about your beautiful country. :-)
I think I'll be reading further because I'm investigating extra places to explore them one day in the future. I did my challenge post in the Pakistani group yesterday. It's was my first partaking in the week by the way. #venezuela #affable
Well done! There is always a first time for doing things:-)
Keep on writing!
Thank you there. I'm on it as much as I can. ☺️ Let's Steem On.
Each time I hear South Africa, the movie Sarafina always comes to my mind.
Indeed your country is a beauty to behold and a place to tour which has always been one of the counties I plan to visit in the future.
I also love your music and the cultural dance and attires.
This has always been a challenge to us Africans.
I wish you best of luck ma @patjewell.
Sarafina!!! Oh my word! What a fantastic movie. Bringing the Soweto unrest to the home of so many people. A must seen movie by all the women of Africa.
Africa as a continent has so much to offer. How I wish I can change peoples view about it.
Come to South Africa and we will welcome you with open arms!!
Thanks for welcoming me in advance 😘
Wow South Africa is a beautiful country, o really like their dance steps and the music. The corruption percentage in your country is not really alarming . You describe your country so well that I feel like visiting 😊 thank you for taking part in this contest and I wish you success.
I love South Africa and I was there in 2013-2015 for studies. They have good higher education system that attracts students from all over the world to study there. The only weird thing is the apartheid that is still highly practiced in some of the institutions especially in UJ. I suffered a lot of racism in UJ and thank God to my Nigerian brothers who fought hard and some of the racist lecturers were removed.
Nevertheless, it’s a nice place to visit and I will love to revisit some day.
What can I even say again? Thanks for describing your country so well for us, I would love to visit the wineland someday! Truly South Africa have natural beauty 😍
Well written dear, every country has some thing unique and nature is one part i love so much.
This problem is almost in every part of the world. We do hope that it will vome to an end some day.
Such a beautiful country with a lot of historical moments. South Africa 🇿🇦 have been a better place for tourism and according to news most foreigners visit there to tour the world and African in general. Thanks for sharing my dear Pat.
It is my pleasure to share my beloved country with you.
I’m keeping my fingers cross that South Africa will stay the haven it is.
Thank you for stopping by!