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Our SA Trip – Week 3

We arrived at Umhlanga for one night and were amazed once more at the beauty of the place. Dee had travelled there numerous times as a child (imagine 4 girls in the back of a car from Rhodesia [now Zimbabwe] with no air-conditioning, an eighteen hour trip!) We were put on the top floor (17^th) which had 2 rooms and an amazing view of the sea (thanks once more to the exchange rate…) We went for a walk to a nearby lighthouse, noting the new walkways and more time-share resorts being built. They are aware of the commercial impact of tourism – possibly the countries single biggest source of income, if they could control the crime. There had been two Swiss ladies raped repeatedly and murdered when the “strayed” from the beaten track at the Umfolozi Game Reserve, and there was a visible drop in tourism. Hence the many start up “guide” companies, who ensure safety by knowing the “beaten tracks” to stay on!

We later met up with Dee’s friends, Rob and Lindy Anderson and their two children. They had emigrated to Canada, spent 5 years there, got their citizenship, and returned. The Canadian climate they found too harsh, and they wanted their children to experience the South African schooling system (follows the British model, high on discipline, outdoor sports, school uniforms being the norm). Lindy’s parents were also with, Dee had stayed with them at some time in her immigration from Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). They then left and babysat Kyle and Brooke back and we met up with John Little and his fiancé – he was Dee’s first serious boyfriend who she went out with for about 7 years. It was an interesting evening, John and Charmaine told of the restaurant they had started together, then had to give up, and John was back skin diving to supply fish for the local hotels. He hastened to add that it was hard work, as I, for one, had envisaged a simple beach bum type of existence. I have always considered restaurants “blood money” and have consulted to a few so was able to identify with their story. Rob and Lindy shared their experiences and travels and we joked that Lindy wanted to bring the “McDonalds” playballs back (from the play areas) and open a business - but McDonalds got to South Africa before her.

It was a great evening (you know me and being around interesting people), and a “big day” for the boys. They were allowed (we could not track down a baby-sitter) to stay ON THEIR OWN in the room on the 17^th floor, and watch TV cartoons to their hearts content – and eat sweets (candy). They had the number of a mobile phone with us, but they were very pleased with themselves! We left the Monday morning to drive through to  my parents (waiting patiently for their turn) in Port Alfred (9 hours). This proved to be a more interesting part of the trip than first imagined. It was longer than we remembered, the countryside was prettier than I remembered, and the old “Transkei” (kind of reservation?) was teeming with black population. We saw one other car with white occupants, so it was unnerving, to say the least, and William hid under a blanket and Jason behind the seat whenever we went through a town. They had never been exposed to so many people all at once, and they were all blacks which was intimidating! There were few on bicycles as in the old days, many abandoned car wrecks and trash littering the roadsides everywhere you looked. There were few fences (a “white mans ploy") so cattle roamed freely making it dangerous at times. Dee was telling the boys about the poverty when she noted that some of the mud huts had satellite dished so she dropped that line of communication! She really felt uncomfortable, having visions of going missing never to be found again, and hated the 10,000 to 1 outnumbered feeling as she felt she would not be able to save the children if matters got unfriendly. Yes, the tone of the country HAS changed! To show how uncomfortable we felt – we did not feel safe enough to stop and use the bathroom so hung on for five hours until we came to the old border post and a had a well deserved break!

We finally made it to Port Alfred and had a great reunion – both with my parents and the countryside – as we worked out we saw my folks in Dallas in 1997 but we were last in Port Alfred in 1995 when we went over for my graduation. One more horror story soon joined the ranks – an old lady who was murdered in broad daylight by her gardener and buried in a shallow grave in her garden. Turned out to be the mother of someone that Al worked with in Richards Bay – small world. We left on Tuesday morning to my sister Linda in Grahamstown – 1 hour away – where they were packing their “Kombi” (VW minibus) and trailer with their windsurfers. Linda is an ex maths teacher at a renowned private school – Kingswood - and married to Nic, a Math professor at Rhodes University. Linda has done a career change and is studying microbiology doing research on drug effectiveness. The career change seems to suit her, as she has “found her niche.” They have two children, Paul (16) – budding guitar player and sportsman, and Vicky (13) or “tinkerbell” as her granddad likes to tease her, budding flutist and piano player. We drove down to time-share Linda had booked in Sedgefield (on the coast about 5 hours away) with dad “running commentary” in our car and our boys in the Kombi with Nanna (Paul and Vicky were still in school so stayed with friends and joined us on the weekend). Jason apparently showed who he was related to in the Kombi as he chatted away. We were expecting my dad’s sister Winnie and her husband Ottie to join us in their own cottage, and as we are driving slowly along (the wind was playing havoc with the windsurfer trailer), lo and behold, a green VW Golf goes racing by, and dad says “That’s Ottie!”

We decided to give chase, as we had last seen them some 6 years ago, and wanted to see them. We were reminded once more that we were in South Africa, as, when we pulled up alongside to wave at them, Ottie told us he thought we were waving a gun and coming up to hijack him! (Statistically you are ten times more likely to have your car hijacked in South Africa than anywhere else in the world – and Ottie has been hijacked, so he had reason to be concerned!) It was good seeing them again, we met up again when we stopped at Storms River Bridge (a scenic concrete suspension bridge over a deep gorge) and met Denise, a long, long lost cousin (as in lost for 35 years or so!) She is married to Wulf and they both used to work in the Volkswagen manufacturing plant in Uitenhage. We got to the resort and found that we were in a house outside of the main resort, which worked very well. Ottie and co. were in house close by, so we were able to have a few braai's (barbecue’s) with them. I was brave enough to show that their windsurfers could carry someone of my increased stature (by week three of over indulging the belts were needing loosening).

We spent a leisurely time down there, for me it was interesting to visit the local Veld ‘n Vlei (now Outward Bound) Adventure School where I had gone at age 16 and in three weeks learnt to canoe, sail, hike, night hike, do weight training, obstacle course, run up steep hills, hike with 30 pounds of sand in a pack, get bigger blisters than thought possible, stupidly allow someone to cut the skin off these large blisters to “help” the healing process, how to camp on a mountainside on a slope with the tent opening facing down as the rain and later snow fall, how to survive frostbite and hypothermia (my toes are still not the same). In fact some people might recall that I celebrate July 4^th – as a thanks for my survival.

Dad and I tried some fishing, but there was nothing biting. The ones we caught were below the legal limit and I was saddened to hear from dad (and see the locals do it) that the coast was “fished out” as despite legal limits set to ensure fish that have not yet reached breeding size are returned, it is once more seen as a “white devised ploy” and so ignored. While we were there, there was a big newspaper article about a high profile personality’s brother (I disagree with the term “celebrity” as there is no reason to ‘celebrate’ them and many are poor roles models) caught smuggling “perlemoen” (kind of large oysters) in enormous numbers. The country’s natural resources are being “raped’ at a rapid rate through poor controls and a lack of accountability. There is a popular saying, which was evident in our trip “the colonizers made two mistakes – 1) they went to Africa, 2) they left Africa”. Essentially they took first world corruption to a third world countries. The bribery and corruption is not even subtle, it is openly evident – to the frustration of the first world population!

As I wrap up this 3^rd week, I have been meaning to write about three newspaper articles that I saw while we were there which sums up the problem. Article one was about a summit on corruption, which was attended by Thabo Mbeki (President designate) that was quoted as saying that he “intended to clamp down on the widespread corruption in public offices.” Article two concerned a cabinet minister who was going to be tried for fraud amounting to millions, which could not be accounted for. Quote by Thabo Mbeki “we will defend her to the hilt. The government will pay for her legal costs to defend her case” Article three was about some cabinet members who were concerned about losing their seats in the upcoming elections (let’s look on the bright side, at least there are elections – Zimbabwe’s last elections were their first in 1980!) Let’s analyse this for a minute – why would they lose their seats? Because they are not doing their job! Thabo Mbeki’s response? We will look after them if they lose their seats as they are used to living at a certain standard of living and we want to help them maintain it.

With this kind of logic it is obvious there is no accountability. The single biggest reason my clients hire my company is… To teach them how to hold their employees accountable. The message? Until you MAKE people do WHAT YOU PAY THEM TO DO, you can never get the results you desire. Very sad, as if the powers that be could get their act together, the single biggest form of income will very definitely be tourism!