Further musings of South African culture

A further examination of roads in South Africa makes even the most pothole filled, bumpy English road seem as smooth a ride as a freshly tarmacced road. In South Africa a highway road is not complete without at least a kilometre of constant, deep potholes. Our guide, Kobus, describes the roads as 'car killers' with cars having to be fixed on a regular basis. 

Something that is of some concern to us is the extreme difference in class amongst the people in the country. On the highway from Potchefstroom to Pretoria we drove past several villages/small towns where on one side of the road were housing estates, with walls and gardens, yet on the other side of the road were shanty towns, with houses constructed of corrugated iron sheets, cardboard and other junk materials. This is also reflected in the towns and cities, where frequently beggars selling newspapers and drinks approach cars stopped at traffic lights hoping for money for their goods. 

It has become clear to me that this country has 4 main loves: Rugby, Braai, God and cricket. In that order. The number of rugby pitches in Potchefstroom alone is incredible, and all the locals follow two teams - Pretoria based super 15 side Bulls, or Bloemfontain based Cheetahs. Braais are a regular occurrence in South African life, however the locals described our effort of burgers and sausages as poor, saying a braai is only complete with steaks being cooked! The country is also fiercely Christian, something we noticed on our first trip to the mall, where the liquor shop remains shut all day. 

The football season is coming to a close in South Africa, with a close run title race between the two Johannesburg based teams Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs. The children in the school support these two teams, however I was delighted that several of them knew Leeds United, possibly due to the former player Lucas Radebe captaining the team in the 1990s and early 2000s!