Go Lions!

Here is some advice in case you visit South Africa: never wander around near the CBD alone, without a phone, at night. I never thought I would have to give that advice, as even if this weren’t Joburg most people would instinctively understand that is a no-no. However, apparently that isn’t universal common sense.

I went to a rugby game with a group of McKinsey folks. It was a great time and quite entertaining, on multiple levels. Yes, the game was good – a cross-town rivalry between the Lions (Joburg) and the Blue Bulls (Pretoria). There was also the fun of chatting with the Afrikaners around us who never quite figured out who we were – about 12 of us representing almost as many countries. They adopted us nonetheless, and as a token of our being adopted rugby fans they helped us understand both the game and how to watch it. The latter part involves taking single-shot plastic packets of brandy (the staple liquor) and putting them into your Coke bottle. I would say that these tiny packets are a great way to smuggle brandy into a game, except that I could probably wheel a keg in with me and I don’t think anyone would have really noticed. There were some outrageously drunk Afrikaners by the end of the game.

Speaking of Coke, everything is shockingly cheap at sporting events. A 500mL Coke was ~$1.50, and a voers in a bun was ~$2.50.

After seeing some rugby, I would say it’s closer to soccer than U.S. football: it’s an endurance game, and a lot of it revolves around waiting for the other team to get out of position and then quickly moving the ball to that hit at that area of their line. There is definitely some strategy, but just like in soccer the strategy is more a general strategy set before the game instead of the play-by-play “paper/scissors/rock” strategy of American football.

At the end of the night as we somehow lost a blond, 90-lb intern from Germany. We called, we re-traced our steps, we went to the police, we called the hotel, we called the cab companies, and after an hour or so some of us finally went back to the hotel just to check. We found her sitting downstairs. Apparently she had decided it would be a good idea to wander into the parking lot looking for our car. A white SA family finally noticed her, helped her look a little, and finally told her it wasn’t safe and they drove her back to the hotel. Very nice of them, since it could have ended in news headlines.

Self-imposed isolation

Following on my previous post, I continue to be surprised by the voluntary isolation of South Africans. Hiding behind walled compounds is one expression, but it manifests itself in other ways. One of the big things to do here is take a tour of a township (usually Soweto) to get a flavor for where black culture in Africa grew during apartheid as well as the living conditions. However, I’ve met multiple South Africans my age who have never been in a township, period. I’ve even gone to an Orlando Pirates soccer game in a township.  Echoing something I've noted earlier, most South Africans have traveled very little even around their neighboring countries.

SA sports and provincialism

You know people are generally sports-crazy when button-downs with team logos are acceptable office wear and when the women in your office will have a 30 min conversation around rugby.

You also realize the impact of isolation on South Africa after a while – isolation of the races during apartheid, but also isolation of South Africa in general vs. the world. If you think about it, the ANC leadership in exile was probably some of the most exposed/international South Africans during the late apartheid years.

One consequence I haven’t mentioned is on sports loyalties. Rugby is a big deal here, but surprisingly there is more passion around local teams than around the national Springboks team. People will wear Blue Bulls or Stormers-logoed dress shirts to work, and one of my clients always wore a Blue Bulls belt buckle. During a conversation, everything fell into place: because the Springboks really couldn’t travel until after 1994, all sports passions revolved around the regional teams. (On the other hand, college sports are just beginning to get a little notice over here in contrast to the college mania in the U.S.)

You might argue this is the same in the U.S.: more people watch their NBA team than watch the Dream Team during the Olympics. However, for U.S. sports an international competition is rare (really just the Olympics or World Cup). For rugby, however, there are multiple international leagues that take place during the regular rugby year.

South Africa’s cricket team, the Proteas (named after a SA flower), had another disappointing exit in the quarterfinals of the Test cricket World Cup this year. I got to watch a thrilling Pakistan/India semifinal game that was just huge.

South Africans can watch a lot of sports, because there are 7 sports channels (Super Sports 1-7) that come with the basic TV package here.

It would take a very special game (World Cup 42?) to displace college football as my favorite sport, but I have come to enjoy Champions League soccer, cricket, and Super 15 rugby. For a guy who was never remotely interested in soccer from back in the U.S., that’s a big shift.

What about "right now"?

Remember the difference between "just now," "now now," and "now"?

-Just now: don't count on it
-Now now: probably do it today
-Now: in theory, actually "now."  In practice, in the next hour or so... hopefully

A different Zion

Yesterday I was driving back to Joburg from Mpumalanga against Easter exodus traffic. As I approached Joburg traffic was so bad that the highway was at a complete standstill leaving Joburg and clogged with Kumbis. I found out that the reason was that the Zion Christian Church has an annual trip to their holy mountain in Limpopo (also east of Joburg) over Easter, and that caused the absurd traffic.

The black South African I was with explained that it is a mix of Christianity and native superstitions, involves communing with ancestors, trips to this holy mountain, some holy tea/water that makes people vomit, and that it is very hierarchical. From some quick research it seems there are ~4m members, or ~8% of SA’s population, and that this is mostly concentrated among three tribes.

I have seen a lot of blacks wearing green ribbons with silver stars on them, almost like a sheriff badge on a green ribbon. I found out that this is the symbol of someone in the ZCC, along with special clothes I’d seen – blue/white bishop-looking robes, khaki uniforms with service covers, etc. Everything sort of clicked then.

Anger management, anyone?

A train was lit on fire in South Africa yesterday.  This may not be unique to South Africa, but it is certainly common. With copper prices soaring, theft of copper overhead power lines from railroad tracks is fairly common. This means trains get stranded, and frequently passengers will express frustration by torching the train cars. Not exactly sure how they think this helps them get to their destination, but it does make news.  (This torching was not related to copper theft, but reminded me.)

Catching up on SA reading

I've neglected this blog for a while, though I have been posting quick notes and links to SA news on my Twitter feed.

In case you're catching up, here is some recent news that is noteworthy or provides insight to this region:
-Scary Economist article about attitudes toward democratic accountability in SA
-Another scary set of stats on public private workers in SA.  1 in 8 workers is employed by the government, at an average salary 44% above that of the private sector.  (The latter may be skewed if, as I suspect, government employees on average more-skilled labor.)
-A good article in the NYT about the proper role of plastic.  If you see plastic trash in rural Africa, it is appalling.
-An article on education unions in SA.  In a conversation the other day with a black SA colleague, she talked about the ridiculous cycle of strikes in education.  Teachers go on strike, then when they come back students will go on strike to protest the teachers striking.
-Doctors in Nigeria went on strike, reminiscent of the violent and shocking nursing strike in SA last September or so.
-The ANC government is pretty vocal about supporting unions and working for laborers, except apparently when it gets a donation at the expense of those same workers.  The response of the donor (President Zuma's nephew) is pretty brazen in his disdain for the claims of the workers.
-In another example of what is euphemistically called "industrial action" here, workers at parastatal power company Eskom want a 16% hike.  Remember that inflation is ~6-7% here, and last year they got a 9% increase plus a housing stipend.