Jeff,
I'm not denying that South Africa does not have problems. We've had problems for the past 60 years.
I wrote on another forum that I just got back to South Africa a couple of days ago after wrapping up our show schedule for the 2017 year. Obviously I read the news most days on what was happening back home, and I'll tell you that I was kind of expecting civil war when I got back. That's what it sounds like when you are on your side and it was what I believed.
Marius...we can often get a reverse of this here...tourists not visiting because of riots in Ferguson illinois, or Baltimore...
It a BIG country and the other 99.9% is running as usual, but all the outsiders get is the worst of the news...
You have hit the nail on the head. The media needs to make a story interesting, and as I mentioned, not being here for three weeks and getting the same news as you guys, I was wondering what was happening to the country and how it could fall apart so quickly. Until I got back, and realised that everything was still standing.
Look, I'm not saying that everything is hunky dory, but if you understand Africa, you will know, big stories like what is happening at the moment, is always a smokescreen to divert the attention of the people away from something bigger. In our case, it is our President trying to divert attention away from his shady dealings, as well as trying to stop losing the support from the black voters. The only way he can do this, is to fuel the racial divisions within the country and get the people fighting among themselves. Although our main opposition party has a very intelligent and educated black African leader and many black members, the party will always be seen as a "white" party, due to its roots. It is the party that most white South Africans will vote for over here. By sewing divisions among the people, and creating the whole black vs white battle within the country, come election time, he hopes that other black voters will rather vote "with their own people" rather than vote for the opposition.
It's that simple.
