One thing you quickly learn in new cultures is that “knowing” is not the same as “comprehending.”
Below is a link to an excellent article that sums up a lot of things about South Africa that I know, but – like the author, it seems – do not comprehend. I highly recommend it, and hats off to the author for his work in putting the article together.
Here is the article itself.
Here is an accompanying video. Note the content warning.
I think it does a great job bringing into focus lots of threads in South Africa: poverty, xenophobia, corruption, muthi and mixed superstition/Christianity [side note: the article refers to the ZCC], complete breakdown of the family, Bible-laced political speech, and a culture that can be so seemingly callous – like nurses barricading hospitals while on strike – that I just can’t understand it despite seeing it repeatedly.
Below is a link to an excellent article that sums up a lot of things about South Africa that I know, but – like the author, it seems – do not comprehend. I highly recommend it, and hats off to the author for his work in putting the article together.
Here is the article itself.
Here is an accompanying video. Note the content warning.
I think it does a great job bringing into focus lots of threads in South Africa: poverty, xenophobia, corruption, muthi and mixed superstition/Christianity [side note: the article refers to the ZCC], complete breakdown of the family, Bible-laced political speech, and a culture that can be so seemingly callous – like nurses barricading hospitals while on strike – that I just can’t understand it despite seeing it repeatedly.
One time he refused to intervene when a mob set a man on fire after compelling his “confession” by making him swallow sewer water. “If I see burning now, if I see raping, I look the other way,” he said huffily back then.
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