JaJa99. No 63. Monday 25th November 2019

I knew I was in South Africa (and not Singapore, Germany, Switzerland or some other country that works) as soon as I got off the aeroplane and made the lengthy walk to immigration. There were five long travellators designed to assist passengers in the trek. Only two were working. (Leading to that deeply frustrating experience of stepping onto a moving walkway that isn’t.) As is the norm nowadays, huge advertising hordings plaster every centimetre of space. One dysfunctional travellator is sponsored by Standard Bank, with their slogan emblazoned in large letters along the side: “Move Forward”. I’d be asking for my money back.

For all its imperfections and strife I love South Africa. It’s a great country with lovely people, stunning scenery, an amazing climate and incredible natural resources. Because of the climate, it’s an outdoor country with fabulous sports facilities, including wonderful golf courses and then there’s the Bush. Paul Kruger, The President of The Transvaal or The Republic of South Africa (now the Province of Gauteng), showed enormous forethought and planning when he corralled an enormous tract of land into The Sabi Game Reserve at the end of the 19th Century, that formally became The Kruger National Park in 1926. It’s how much of Africa used to be; wild and rugged and full of beautiful, dangerous beasts roaming free. It was created to protect and preserve and it continues in that role today, with a massive ongoing battle to resist the ivory poachers who take enormous personal risks in killing rhinos for their horns to feed the ludicrously ill-informed and greedy markets in Asia.
Rangers are now legally allowed to shoot poachers and do.

South Africa is a troubled country with a shattered economy, awful crime and blackmail and corruption rife at the highest levels. It’s been teetering on the brink for years and seems to be tottering ever closer although the new President, Cyril Ramaphosa, is bravely doing his best to root out the corrupt and crooked. Many fear that civil war is almost inevitable. The issue is not so much a black/white divide as the battle between the different African tribes that still preserve their old traditions, customs and hatreds. President Mandela’s wonderful legacy is in real danger of floundering on the Cape of Little Hope. One can only pray that a growing black middle class will prevail and bring wealth, health and happiness back to this troubled land. It is still a majestic place to visit and holiday in and successes along the way, like the Rugby World Cup, gives everyone hope. Please God, or whoever is in charge at the moment, may the good men and women prevail.

One of the features of life in Johannesburg in Summer (i.e. now) is that most afternoons are spectacularly interrupted by violent thunderstorms. When I first came here in 1995 you could almost set your watch by them arriving at 4pm and gone within an hour or two. Whether it’s down to global warming I know not, but things are much less predictable now, although you can still be sure when one is coming your way! Jo’Burg is renowned as one of the lightning capitals of the world, with between ten and thirty people dying annually due to lightning strikes across the country, in the last few years. It has been as high as forty four. (According to National Geographic, two thousand people die worldwide every year from lightning strikes, although some estimates have it as high as six thousand).

On which cheery note, I’m off to play golf with my fourteen lightning attractors and the cumulo-nimbus already reaching high into the azure blue sky. Wish me luck.