Why you proudly south african

Indeed, the country has some of the best airports in the vicinity too, such a win — win for tourists! South Africa can give you a taste of both water bodies and high lands, and the sunsets are always amazing. This country is perfect for clicking the best photographs. Yes, you heard that right. Not the common norm of one, not even two, but three entirely different capitals! Boy, this country sure stands out as a political miracle throughout history, and is upholding that even today!

These are weighty tourist attractions too, and the historic, political and social influences are of course undeniable. Another reason to make proud, I am sure. Natural beauty complete with mountains and fountains are lovely, sure, but the urban landscape now attracts city based eyeballs more. And South Africa is a perfect haven for that. A braai The tastiest of our 10 reasons is, of course, the South African-style barbeque. Chops, boerewors, skilpadjies tortoise , Afrikaans-style potato salad with egg and condensed milk and even a side of Kasi pap!

The Big Five Many foreigners often assume we have elephants and lions roaming in our literal backyard and although our immediate backyard may not be completely correct unless you live in the Kruger National Park , our country is home to the most amazing wildlife and some of the last rhinos left on the planet.

Growing Athletic Dominance South Africans stood proud as our national athletes made their mark at the World Championships in Athletics, which took place in London this year. All eyes were on team South Africa, who put in their best performance to date.

Cape Town born Wayde Van Niekerk went home with two medals; defending his title in the m sprints and achieving silver in the m. SA ended third overall and outclassed athletic supremacies like Britain and Ethiopia. From tumbling tablecloth clouds to free cable car rides on your birthday, there is really no other mountain quite like it. South African slang China, my boet, you must tune us one time if you know anyone else in the world who will invite you to a jol on their stoep, or share a couple of cold brews with a bru.

Stiek uit pull through if you do! We will pay you 5 Tiger if you know anyone that talks as kwaai cool as us Saffers do. There is no place quite like Mzansi. Nelson Mandela We know you were expecting this one, but the Father of the Nation can never go unmentioned when it is he who lead South Africa into the freedom that we enjoy today.

Win an off-the-grid luxury escape with The door closes. You have 60 minutes to get out The hospitals, staff, and care given are first class, with plenty of medical aid schemes to choose from.

Our beaches come out tops too. Fine dining more your thing? We must also mention our universities, like the University of Cape Town and Stellenbosch University, which regularly make it onto global university rankings. In , three South African universities are among the top in the world.

This is another accolade, but one worthy of special mention. Last year South Africa was named the third most inclusive country in the world , behind only Canada and the United States.

These results are the outcome of an Ipsos Global Advisor survey and more than 20 people took part in it. The areas on which participants were surveyed covered social acceptance on the basis of religion, immigration, sexual orientation and gender identity, political views, and criminal background.

Some urban legends about life in South Africa just never seem to go away. Often, people simply have no idea what to expect. Now, consider the case of the proud South African.

She has no discernible control over whether the country is beautiful, constitutional, or friendly. It seems inappropriate, therefore, for her to feel pride in respect of her entire country because of such features. The proud South African may exclaim that this is untrue. She planted a vegetable patch and picked up litter, she voted to support a democratic state, and she fed victims of xenophobic violence. Yet her contribution, although evidently positive, seems miniscule at best when considering the scope of the entire country.

It seems legitimate for our proud South African to be proud of the specific vegetable patch she tends, the particular vote she casts, and the specific xenophobic shelter to which she contributes her time. However, pride beyond this, of the entire country in virtue of its beauty, constitutionalism and friendliness, seems misplaced.

Her lone vegetable patch does not hold a candle to the magnificence of the Outeniqua mountains. She has played a minimal role if any at all in these features, and so, is entitled only to minimal pride. Certainly not the sort of pride required for patriotism and nationalism. The proud South African may attempt a final objection. Perhaps the proud South African feels towards the achievements of South Africa the way a parent feels towards the achievements of her child. The parent raised, fed, educated and supported her child in ways that ultimately provided her with the capacity to perform well in her business management course.

The ordinary citizen, however, has exercised no such causal influence over her country. Perhaps the correct model for the proud South African is a parent who has had little to no contact with her child, but feels proud of her accomplishments nonetheless. However, we might ask whether such a parent is justified in feeling proud of her child? The average South African born today has done little to contribute to the fabric of her society as it has evolved through the generations before her.

How then can she be proud of her country at all? Thus, none of the above five reasons seems like a good reason to be patriotic or nationalistic. This piece does not intend to single out South Africa as uniquely worthy of shame in our view, shame in respect of a country — given that it is the converse of pride, is also inappropriate.

It merely probes some common reasons cited for national pride, using South Africa as its example. We argue that that there is a mismatch between the reasons cited for pride, and facts about South Africa.