A plea for South Africans who are getting jobs. Please, guys, please go to work. A hangover can't cost you your job. Give it your all. Some people are using their own money to fight for companies to hire you; the next thing you know, you don't show up. If you don't like the job, fine, work while you apply, but just give it your all.
Here is a lesson, young man! fully, firmly, and without apology. You undermine South Africa because you cannot stand our success. You call us xenophobic because we refuse to be your escape hatch. You mock our challenges while ignoring our achievements. So let me remind you, South Africa is the engine of this continent. Without us, Africa would be poorer, sicker, hungrier, and weaker.
Let me list what we are actually good at so you never forget.
Healthcare. We have the best healthcare system, We provide free treatment to millions. Mother-to-child HIV transmission is under 1%. Our healthcare system, despite its strains, is the envy of the continent. We treat your sick when you cannot.
We are the most food-secure nation in Africa. We export citrus, wine, maize, and macadamia nuts globally. We feed ourselves and our neighbours. We have world-class research, mechanisation, and supply chains.
Our ports are the busiest in Africa. Our roads, railways, and airports connect the continent. Our financial system is robust. Our constitution is a global benchmark for human rights.
We have a judicial system that holds leaders accountable. We have free press, civil society, and a citizenry that protests and votes. We do not run. We fight. We hold our leaders to account. something you refuse to do. We are a resilient nation!
We are building renewable energy projects. We have a space programme. We have tech hubs that rival Nairobi and Lagos. We are not sitting still.
We have challenges Yes! And we are working on it! corruption, unemployment, crime. But we own them. We confront them. We do not run from them. And we will fix them. Without your lectures. Without your pity. Without you.
Africa needs South Africa because we lead. We build. We deliver. You need us to be great because when we fail, you have no excuse. When we succeed, you have no argument. So stop undermining us. Start building your own countries. We are South Africa and we are here to stay nana!!!!!
Let me educate you not with anger, but with truth. You assume South Africans lack exposure. You assume we believe other African countries are poor and undeveloped. That is not the case. We know the reality. We know Nigeria has oil. We know Ghana has gold. We know Kenya has tech. We know Botswana has diamonds. We know Zambia has copper. We know Zimbabwe has platinum and lithium. We know the DRC sits on $24 trillion in minerals. We know Africa is rich.
But here is what you do not understand, wealth beneath the ground does not translate to prosperity above it. You can have all the minerals in the world but if your leaders steal, your constitutions hostile towards humans rights, if your institutions are corrupt, if your people are divided by tribe, if your healthcare collapses, if your schools crumble, if your youth flee then you are poor. Not in resources. In governance. In accountability. In dignity.
We do not look down on Africa. We look at the mirror Africa refuses to face. We see our own flaws corruption, unemployment, crime and we fight them. We protest. We vote. We demand better. That is what makes us different. We do not run. We stay. We build. We hold our leaders accountable, even when it hurts.
You say we lack exposure. But we see you. We see your leaders flying overseas to get treated, some in our country to get medical treatment, while your children starve. We see your ports exporting raw minerals while your people have no jobs. We are not blind. We are not ignorant. We are honest.
The difference between South Africa and many other African countries is not wealth. It is the willingness to confront failure. We own ours. You run from yours. That is not a lack of exposure. That is a lack of accountability. And until you fix that, no mineral, no resource, no tweet will save you. Go home. Fix your house. Then talk to us about exposure.