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I’m a White South African and Can Assure You I’m Not Being Persecuted
My beloved country may be flawed, but I’d never consider leaving
It’s times like these, when almost every citizen in South Africa, irrespective of their race and ethnicity, is being persecuted by the Trump *maladministration, that I long deep in my heart for my soulmate.
* (In Afrikaans, “mal” means crazy or mad — appropriate under current circumstances.)
With our combined knowledge of the history and politics of South Africa, what scintillating conversations we could have had about the small bunch of sour-grape Afrikaners who claim their land is being taken without compensation, there’s a white genocide, and they’re being discriminated against.
I recall the euphoria and indescribable joy we felt on that auspicious day in April 1994 when we stood in the queue to vote in our first democratic elections. That incredible sense of belonging despite our cultural differences as people now enjoyed equal status as full citizens of one nation.
I wonder what he would have to say about what’s happening in the world today?
Two years ago, I would have read this essay aloud to him before publishing. But all I can do now is hope he’ll feel the essence of what I’m sharing…
