We live in ‘interesting times’, but have much to celebrate

MY GOOD friend Kanthan Pillay likes to quote Samuel Johnson who said “patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel”. I agree with Pillay and Johnson, but only slightly.

I believe there is true patriotism and then there is patriotism that is often an excuse for something else, such as hiding the faults in society.

I have never been ashamed to declare myself a patriot, but I have never believed in being blind to the problems in South Africa.

It is a question of definition. For instance, I am extremely loyal to our beautiful country. I believe we live in one of the most amazing countries in the world and have some of the warmest people anywhere.

As we prepare to commemorate Human Rights Day on Monday, we have to admit many faults and at the risk of sounding like a stuck record, many of these problems can be traced back to 300 years of colonialism and 50 years of apartheid. It will probably take almost as long for us to sort out many of the problems created over those years.

It is difficult to understand how some can seek to wish away the problems created by apartheid when these still surround us on a daily basis.

The homelands might not exist anymore but we still have migrant workers because there is no work in the ex-homelands which have, for all intents and purposes, become provinces in democratic South Africa. Unemployment in general remains a major problem.

Our education system is still skewed and our housing crisis has not even been mildly addressed in the past 22 years of democracy. Even our justice system has many flaws that need to be ironed out. Our crime situation is out of hand and needs drastic action.

Despite all these problems, there is no other country where I would rather live.

The Chinese have a curse that goes “may you live in interesting times” – one could argue we are never short on interesting times in South Africa.

Sometimes South Africans can be their biggest critics. There are many, especially those who have left the country, who feel vindicated when things go wrong. Whenever they read a story about a murder, they appear to silently rejoice because it proves their theory South Africa is going to the dogs.

But South Africa is far from going to the dogs. If some people looked beyond their hatred of certain public figures, they would see a large number of people in the public and private sectors working tirelessly to improve conditions for the majority. Unfortunately, the efforts of these people are never celebrated.

In my book, patriotism has never meant blind loyalty to the government of the day or the ruling party and its leadership. Patriotism has always meant being loyal to the people and the constitution of our country.

This column was inspired by a recent Facebook post by my friend and neighbour, Kashif Wicomb, who questioned why South Africans could not be as patriotic as Americans appear to be. I followed the subsequent discussion with interest because it is something that I have also thought about.

Americans can be blindly patriotic, despite their political differences. It is not only Republicans who proudly display the American flag at their homes, but also Democrats.

A few years ago I visited one of my best friends, Buck Belmore, who lives in Las Vegas. Buck’s daughter Sarah was graduating. After the academic procession entered the hall, we were asked to stand and pledge allegiance to the United States of America. Everyone put their hands on their hearts and loudly recited the pledge.

I thought at the time we needed something like that to bring South Africans together despite our perceived differences.

The closest we have come to patriotism was when we hosted major sporting events like the soccer World Cup, the Rugby World Cup or the African Cup of Nations. But we need to find a way of developing patriotism when there is no hype, when South Africans are merely getting on with their jobs and building a better society.

South Africans should not feel ashamed to be patriotic.

We have a lot to celebrate as a country and we should celebrate this at the same time as we try to deal with the many issues still bedevilling our society.