Five signs you are South African

Despite the challenges, South Africa is one of the most beautiful countries in the world.

Rich in culture and diversity, the country has a lot to offer, and we should always remain proud of who we are as a nation.

Here are some of the fun things we love about being South African.

We do a bit of shopping at the robots

South Africa is one of the few places in the world where you can literally shop at a robot. You can get everything from fruit and veggies, toys for the kids, to stuff you had no idea you needed.

Backyard zoo

How many people across the globe can say they have their own zoos in their backyard? We are not referring to your neighbour’s “Dennis the Menace” son who is always swinging from tree to tree, but monkeys! Leave you windows open in many parts of KwaZulu-Natal and you just might find a few primates helping themselves to the food in your kitchen. Contrary to what foreigners think, we don’t have pet elephants, but every now and again we get an alert in the news about a lion on the loose! And don’t get us started on Parktown Prawns – Johannesburg’s most legendary insect. The king cricket should really be classified as an alien species, because it is certainly not of this world. Did we mention the green mambas and cobras that occasionally find their way into your house?

We love to dance

Dancing is a huge part of our diverse culture and history. South Africans don’t need any excuse to get up and dance. We dance when we are happy, when we are eating tasty food, when we are excited about winning some lame prize like R15 airtime, and we even dance when our parents are giving us a good hiding - with a wooden spoon!

We are major sports fanatics

Nothing unites South Africans more than sport. We temporarily forget all our problems, and hug it out at a cricket match while drinking beer, sings songs together while watching the Springboks play at our local sports bar, and lend each other a shoulder to cry on when Bafana Bafana loses yet another football match.

We totally understand each other

South Africa has 11 official languages, but somehow we still manage to understand each other. Here are a few words we use to communicate despite having different mother tongues.

Howzit: “Hello, how are you?” all in one word. 

Lekker: Something that is nice, and also used in response to “howzit”.  

Swak: Something that is bad, or not good.

Kak: You might not want to use this word around the elders, because while it is mostly used to say something is rubbish or nonsense, it literally means sh*t. 

Now now: Used to indicate that you will do something very soon, or you will be arriving shortly. 

Izit/isit: Translation: Is that so? 

Yebo: Yes 

Jol: A word used to describe having fun.