Haters gonna hate

So last week I vented a little on the issue of expatriates who were hating on South Africa.

As it turns out me letting off a little steam caused a few tempers to flare on the other side of the seas. The blog went viral and a debate raged both for and against the issues.

Well to be honest a fair amount from expats themselves was quite predictably against my view. What I was saying last week was that I don’t mind people leaving the country for greener pastures but don’t fuel hate within our own country by posting endless negative comments about South Africa on social media. It brings us down quite frankly, and those of us here are trying to build us up. 

What really intrigued me was that the reactions were sometimes very personal. These people completely side-lined the issue. Frankly I don’t mind being called names. It means nothing to me. In my line of work it's par for the course. But calling me a second rate DJ is where I take umbrage. I’ve never spun a disk in my life.  

Look, clearly this is an issue that hits a nerve and people are going to react emotionally. I think part of why people who have left seem to obsessively follow the goings on back home is because of a deep emotional connection to this country and I acquiesce to that. So as much as they have the right to be personally invested they should also understand how their vitriolic, knee-jerk rants make us feel. It is not all about you. I don’t know how much clearer I need to be. 

So at the risk of setting off another storm in a foreign tea cup let me emphasise: we get newspapers here, we have television here, we have the internet here. We don’t need to be funnelled local news via Sydney, London or Ontario. And perhaps more importantly we certainly don’t need (and don’t you dare deny it) the racist commentary that usually underscores most of these posts. 

At any rate a lot of the reaction to the blog seemed to miss the point. What I was saying was not something I sucked out of my thumb but was based on hearing of experiences of people I know. Perhaps if the tone of my interactions with expats was more positive the show would have reflected this, but unfortunately that is not the case.

My biggest umbrage here is not that they are solely complaining on social media but they are fuelling a perception of the country they have left. It’s not a perception I hold or one that I believe, in my opinion, is entirely accurate. And the race based arguments for leaving the country fall flat as well, because if one looks at statistics there are more crimes committed against people of colour in this country than anyone else, but that’s a whole other show.

At the end of the day I am glad it got people talking. 

So those streaming this broadcast on their 100 megabits per second pipe out of South Korea, yesterday was the Day of Reconciliation in South Africa. Did you post something reconciliatory on social media or did you just default to spitting bile? Perspective, that’s what you need. And with that, let’s move on to Christmas.

I am not a writing-to-Santa kind of guy but since Darren held the proverbial gun to my head, there are a few things I would stuff in my stocking if forced to do so:

1.    I want electricity throughout Christmas and the New Year. As much as the red and green candles were pretty, the novelty has worn off on me. And also roast turkey doesn’t do so well on the skottle as I very expensively found out last week when I did a turkey trial.

2.    The second thing I want is not really something for “in my stocking” but something I want to get off my chest. The Kardashians. When are they going to go away? They are everywhere. They are like fleas on fleas. Why do we continue to reinforce their inanity? Perhaps an idea for a show might be the Kardashians' take on Krypton. It’s very far away, doesn’t really exist, so you won’t get signal out of there, and we never have to see it. You’re welcome world! 

3.    A new wardrobe for the EFF. See how magnanimous I am. Nothing is for me. I am tired of those red berets and red overalls. Admittedly for them it must feel like Christmas all year round but for the rest of us what ever happened to those Versace suits the ANC youth league members used to wear? How we miss those days.

4.    A little mini-Michael Buble. A CD won’t do it; it has to be the real little thing that I can carry around, haul out to perform at my will, tell those corny jokes and sing and dance on request. Do you know how many Christmas parties I am going to and what a hit I will be?  

I know my requests to Santa may seem a little far-fetched. Some might say almost as far-fetched as writing a letter to Santa. But let’s bring it back to reality here, and the fifth thing I really want to give: I want to give five listeners an opportunity to taste some craft beer with me. At the risk of having an Oprah moment, I came across an amazing craft beer brew, which the makers, Innes and Gunn, are calling the champagne of beer, which they brought in from Scotland. So I’m inviting five listeners to come for a craft beer tasting with me at Republik in Durban North tomorrow.

Follow Terence on Twitter @terencepillay1 and tell him why you should be one of the five. And remember to include a contact number or email address. 

Happy Holidays.