And Crazybobo bud , my little troll , you americans can thank your lucky stars the indians where so few and far between , your western culture managed to turn most of them into alcaholics, and those that you didnt ruin with alcahol you killed or forced into reserves . Shame on you!!!! , you managed to kill a beautiful culture with one foul sweep of your western stupidity. I for one am thankfull as a South African everyday that we are so many cultures , and yes we have out problems, and yes we made mistakes in the past. But boy watch us in the future.

I agree with montaki.

All of Europe is a mess.

Australia is more racist than they would acknowledge. You should hear them shout on the street! at people of another race.

Americans don't know what the rest the world really think of themselves. Electing George W Bush as their president they for once said all about their country, constitution, culture and about themselves!

Even some other places in Africa are better than the rest of the world. Africa, the continent of opportunities!

@ Montaki: I believe our former minister of foreign affairs, Pik Botha, told the Americans exactly that (about them Yankees shooting and killing off just about every indigenous native tot he extent they now, and still! live in protected areas.

Those arrogant, bully-Yankees wasn't expecting a vaal seun from Arica telling them off!

S.A is still a wonderful place- and I consider myself lucky to be born here.

I am neither black nor white , which (in my opinion) gives me an unique perspective of what things are like here.

There is still a lot of race-consciousness here.
There is still very little social interaction between whites and "people of colour" in S.A.

But the thing that most amazes me is the STEREOTYPING , which is so ingrained in us that I think it is well-nigh impossible to extinguish from our collective psyche. We South Africans all suffer from this racial neurosis.

I know (because I have experienced it a thousand times !) in social or business interaction with whites I am invariably given the dreaded
"SILENT TREATMENT".
"People of colour" really have to be superlative at what they do or they must possess very high academic qualifications in order to compensate for their "blackness".


And then there are degrees of acceptance , such as :
"No he's ok, he's an educated indian/black".

Accent is also a big factor in social acceptability. If you have a British or American accent , you will be easily accepted socially in white circles.

This really is a very difficult question to answer.

Well, I can tell you that you will see a lot less respect in South Africa (be it for the law, the environment, other people and their belongings, life, you name it) than what I experienced during a recent trip to the US. People are a lot more mature over there, know how to drive, keep their country clean, make things work, etc etc.

The new generation S. Africans are colourblind, so as they grow up they'll slowly replace the "old guard". I for one live in one of the most racially and culturally diverse parts of Joburg, race isn't an issue for me, though as a nation we have a long way to go, sorting out some very serious issues.

Well said Muffman...

Muffman , I have no problem with colourblind as long as we dont lose our different cultures , there are many with beautiful traditions and history , but yes the way forward would be as united South Africans , forgetting the past and striving to build a future for all our children

What is South Africa like?

1. Beware of the lions in the street, they bite sore.
2. You can buy a wife with cows, negotiate though.
3. If you need cows speak to Julius, he can organise anything.
4. Stay away from Sandton, cannibals live there and they cook you in a pot with potatoes (not pleasant).
5. We are the only country in the world where you can get a big discount on traffic offence fines if you choose the instant pay option with the traffic officer.
6. We play rugby here, just like your football, except the mens version.
7. We have Indians here, but they are free and live amongst us.
8. We have Julius.

And almost forgot, the tigers they are real buggers, their bite is worse than the lions!!

@Montaki, your attitude about South Africa, reminds me of the likes of Oom Bey Naude and Bishop Tutu.

The annual heritage celebration (24th September)is there to preserve our different cultures

16th of December is our yearly reconciliation day

If those 2 days mean something to all South Africans, i think we are on the right track...

Indeed.
We also have whites here but they are free and live amongst us , notwithstanding what their fathers did to us.