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South Africa is my country and while it isn't my country of birth, it is my country. To quote Cobus Rossouw in Katrina: "I love my country. No one must want to burn it."

Then, I found this on www.news24.com (http://www.news24.com):

28 August 2012
Private Citizen

Notice of Resignation from the Republic

To all the People of the Republic,

I would like to respectfully serve notice of my intent to resign my citizenship of the Republic of South Africa. After extensive consideration, and much careful deliberation, I have regretfully decided to seek a future in a nation that does not make a blatant mockery of democratic freedom and social equality.

I have come to realise that the people entrusted with the creation and preservation of this country’s egalitarian principals are completely disillusioned, incompetent and stupid. This realisation has led me to conclude that maintaining any further residence in the Republic will simply rob me of my civil rights and obstruct my ability to pursue a sustainable future.

My many years as a loyal civilian of this nation have left me sorely disappointed at the utter desecration of what was once an exquisite vision of hope. I have always clung patriotically to the national dream, patiently waiting, full of optimism for a beautiful future to manifest itself. But almost two decades of fading hope, frustratingly unnecessary setbacks and shockingly little progress has taken its toll.

The once unlimited possibilities of what this country had to offer have been destroyed, replaced by pessimism, anger and, ultimately, fear.

A climate of inequality still dominates the social landscape exposing a dangerous reality: The horrors of the Apartheid System of the second-half of the 20th century still exist. A new structure of discrimination and inequality has arisen in South Africa – 21st century Apartheid - under the guise of the policy of the ‘Redistribution of Wealth’, citizens in South Africa across not one, but all demographic groups are now being prejudiced.

This blight on our society is plainly evidenced by abuse of political power, individual self-enrichment at the expense of basic needs provision and corruption, so rampant that is perpetrated by the majority of public servants and incredibly expected to occur in government sectors.

The degradation of the fundamental values on which this country’s democracy was founded, have almost completely vanished, opening a void that threatens to destroy the very foundations on which our civil rights and freedoms were agonizingly constructed.

The increasing rate at which negative socio-political trends are transpiring and manifesting across the land, ultimately forced me to re-evaluate my personal welfare as a citizen of South Africa. As a result, I have found that it would be in my best personal interest to resign my position as a citizen, since I can no longer serve a broken system.
South Africa has provided me with an experience found nowhere else on the planet. I have learnt a lot as a South African. Being exposed to a multitude of tremendously different cultures, religions, languages and groups has left me; I like to believe, with a dynamic understanding of the Human Race.


The marvellously diverse composition of people and awe-inspiring natural spectacles contained within the country, combine to form a masterpiece of breath-taking beauty that I could never possibly forget. The rich history of our nation, forged through turmoil and culminating in a remarkable achievement of democracy, is a story that must never be forgotten.

The priceless memories made, people encountered and cultural identity forged as a citizen of South Africa will forever define who I essentially am...South African.

Thank you for affording me the opportunity to be part of such a wonderful nation. Having the chance to encounter and experience such a unique and dynamic “world-within-a-country” only comes once in a lifetime, and I believe that time was spent within the realm of the “land at the Southern tip of Africa.”

So until the day that true democracy exists in every province, city and home in South Africa; until every man, woman and child, of every race, religion and sex is truly free; when discrimination, government hopelessness and state stupidity are vanquished, I will seek a new beginning in another land.

Until that day I fear for South Africa and its people; I fear for their chance to live a life free of the shackles of oppression, I fear that I have no hope of returning to the land that I love.

Until that day, I renounce my South African citizenship.
With a broken heart,

A disillusioned child of The Republic of South Africa.


All of the above makes me more than a little  :bluesad:

Wow.  Powerful and eloquent, no doubt.
I know some Americans who feel they could write similar letters, but I am not one of them.  For all its flaws, I still believe in our system.

I wonder where this person intends to go?  There are no perfect governments.

Good luck finding any country where that is the case.

The problem I have with this letter is that the writer keeps restating essentially the same thing, but never supports it or even identifies any specific issues. I have no idea what his problem is. This could be a powerful condemnation or the whining of a selfish crackpot for all I know.

I think this person longs for the "great days" of the brutal apartheid era from 1948 to 1994. I don't.  :bluesad:

That's what I thought too.


It might be a bit of both too.

That's the first thing that occured to me. What are the actual situations that caused this? And finding a country that fits extreme ideals would be impossible. As Indy said,America isn't perfect but I am happy living here.

I don’t know what the person who wrote that letter was specifically referring to as his gripe, and I don’t know a great deal about South Africa, but I went to New Zealand about five years ago and while there met a noteworthy amount of South Africans who had immigrated there, and also apparently to Australia. I talked for a while to one woman from South Africa who described the massive emigration as "white flight." My first impulse was to think these were a bunch of pro-Apartheid types who were leaving because they didn’t like the changes that had come after the repeal of all the repressive racial laws, but she said where she lived in South Africa "roving gangs" were terrorizing people and trying to shake down middle class locals for protection money, and police, according to her, weren't doing a lot to help anyone. She claimed she hated Apartheid, but she had been robbed more than once and threatened and feared for her safety if she stayed in the country of her birth. Before I went to New Zealand I doubt I'd met five South Africans in my life. After I left New Zealand I'd met easily a dozen, with enough being there for them to have set up what amounts to South African social clubs and schools. Rightly or not what I took away from the experience was that 21st century South Africa is losing affluent white people at a huge rate.

(This is freaky: I just got home from a shopping trip and put on a cd I have been wanting for ages - it is by Ladysmith Black Mambazo.  So here I sit, listening to beautiful and inspiring SA music.)

It seems to me some context is in order for this letter to be understood.  Here in Canada there has been a lot of news coverage over the last few days and weeks about the miners' strike in SA.  Today I read a newspaper article that said that the protesting miners were being charged with the murders of some of their number who were shot by the SA police.  It appears that under an old 'apartheid' law members of a group can be charged as accessories if the police are compelled to shoot members of their group.  There are no charges being considered against any of the police.  IF this is accurate, it seems to me that the letter writer in question may be reacting to this and perhaps other recent disturbing events as an indication of conditions.

He (?) says "I have always clung patriotically to the national dream, patiently waiting, full of optimism for a beautiful future to manifest itself. But almost two decades of fading hope, frustratingly unnecessary setbacks and shockingly little progress has taken its toll. " - since Apartheid ended in 1994 I assume this is the 'almost two decades' referred to.  So I would take it that this person certainly is and was not pro-Apartheid, since he had had optimistic dreams for his country since its end and has found himself disappointed.

Perhaps this person is somehow close to the miners who were protesting; in relationship or viewpoint.  As I understand it, they were motivated by dissatisfaction with their rate of pay and general conditions.  Economic inequities can be a huge issue anywhere.  Perhaps this person's expectations of life after Apartheid included improvements to economic conditions for all that have not become reality.  Add to that the way the miners have been dealt with and I am sure it is understandable that he is distressed.  Rightly or wrongly - we cannot know from this distance, so no judgments - his pain and upset is quite evident in his letter.   :bluesad:

In my experience, when a person takes such a bold step as to claim to want to denounce their citizenship, they're simply saying so to try and add impact to their statements. I know plenty of people that have done nothing but complain their whole lives about the communities they live in, all the way from their local village all the way to their country as a whole, yet when they decide to put their nose to the grindstone and collect their thoughts, they claim to have been a patriot all along. The person that wrote that is an excellent writer, very poetic so to speak, but that doesn't mean they were all the things they claim to be. The world is a tough place, it's full of people, and people are often flawed, making the end result of their efforts less than perfect, and it only gets worse when their goals don't align with one's own. The old saying about the grass being greener comes to mind.

As humans, we have been on quite the roller-coaster ride for the last few centuries, and we've just simply not adapted to it very well. Through the industrial age and into the information age, we've had such huge changes over the last couple of decades it's not surprising that we all haven't caught on and made headway at the same rate, and it seems like that inequality may be the root of the writer's issues. I don't know, the writer is pretty vague when it comes to specifics. Perhaps the specifics were left out because the writer didn't even understand them themselves, or perhaps to avoid the obvious rebuttal of "what have you tried to d to fix the problem".

I would think a person that had legitimate complaints would have listed at least a few and made points about how exactly things are not heading in the right direction. The writer did not.

It is not very useful, is it, to whine (in flowery words) and yet to offer no solution, nor to offer any story of even having tried.

     If you truly love a nation, don't you STAY, and serve as an example of what makes it great?

No sympathy for refugees, then?  What a person finds 'intolerable' can be quite subjective.  And he did mention that it has been near on two decades since things were to be changing for the better.  I expect that he feels that if it cannot be made 'better' by those who were supposed to be best able to make it so, then there is little hope.

It comes off as an emotional outburst; a cry of desperation.  It is far too easy to take something as being well-reasoned and rational simply because the language it is presented in is eloquent.  He more or less is saying, "I cannot take this anymore!"

No. You dont cow  to a nation or the nation politic?-thats what made Nazi Germany.
Always. f**king ALWAYS!
QUESTION the status quo-MAKE THEM EXPLAIN. WE PAY THEM. I DO NOT WORK FOR A SUPER RICH a***ole>
Oh...but gee
YES I DO.



I dont give a f**k if this world goes to hell....I welcome it.
HUR! :hatred:

I couldnt be a politition-
I wont lie-
I wont suck yer dick-
Iwont be a flip flop on issues to get votes-fill your head full of lies-promise you the world I have no power over a dangerous liar in the Nixon mode....f**k then all.

Never trust a junkie-politics is a power drug.
They ALL LIE.
f**k em all.

Does it need to be spelled out?
OK-the RAMONES will do it for illiterate moron quasi nazi f**ks-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDD7LpsW6p8

All this poltical lying feels like someone is sticking their finger down my throat- I gag-I wanna puke. URR! AHHH! AHHHH!
Nobody takes me serious-
"Oh thats just crazy ,Ronny"
"Yer nuts"
"Hes an idiot"
" He's DANGEROUS."
 LETS IGNORE THE PROBLEM.
I AM the problem-and billons more like ME.

Watch yer ass-where here-aint gonna get nice.
Thomas Jefferson said that to defend your beliefs with yer own blood.
Yes. These lying p***ys do it with YOUR blood.


s**t,man-I need something to slow mw down.  :bluesad:


And yes-I modified this rant and took out the Romney-Obama references-seemed immaterial and small when you think of the whole world trying to kill nazism with their blood-and we b***h about gas prices.Sad. Real f**king SAD.

Blech. Idealism over realism.

Now, I'm not knocking idealism. There must be an ideal society that people strive for. The impetus to make things better is the engine that actually makes things better.

However, we still live in the muck of reality. When an idealist throws in the towel and gives up on reality he is essentially taking the useless way out. The way out that, surprise, allows him to forever declare himself as the one guy who took the high road. And that moral high-handedness is something nobody should have to listen to.

In this example, the author declares that South Africa has not lived up to the ideals that he hoped they could strive to. Instead of actually digging himself in and fighting for the things he claims to care for, he just wants to take his ball and go home. Pure laziness, and as AndyC said, "Go where?"

You want a better world? Other people will not do it for you. It's your responsibility, don't get mad when other people demand that you step up.

Even less useful when you don't clearly state what the problem is. This guy's rhetoric about freedom and democracy says nothing about what he opposes or what he wants. Only a couple of times does he vaguely suggest an issue, and depending on your interpretation, he could be on either side of it.

I don't see any desperation in this letter. I'm seeing a lot of righteous indignation from somebody with a flair for the melodramatic.

Again: context is everything.  It seems to me it is being assumed that this was intended as some sort of 'manifesto' to the world.  Imagine a letter to the editor taken from a Canadian newspaper, for example, and plunked down without preamble on an international forum.  All the background and explanation you seem to be asking for here would not necessarily be included.  Without the context of the general conditions and events, no way to judge the relative scale or impact of current events local to the writer and no idea of 'what went before' in the original forum/paper in the way of articles, editorials or letters/discussion it would be very hard to know exactly what was up, and why.  Such a letter, taken out of context, may well appear to be 'out of the blue' and make little sense to those outside the environment the letter was written and presented in.

If the letter writer's reaction appears extreme - and it seems it does to many, from the comments here - that is where I read desperation.  I am making my own assumptions (as are we all, commenting on this): that the letter writer is old enough to have a history of supporting the current government and previously the anti-Apartheid movement.  He may well have made efforts on behalf/in favour of both and is frustrated that such efforts have not paid off.  Maybe he DID "dig in and fight". If he did in the past, the depth of his frustration is understandable.  To assume he has never done anything at all in his life to change or improve his country's conditions is a bit of a stretch IMO. Rather interesting that the majority here think he has done nothing and is only spewing off his dissatisfactions.

I also think it is a bit much to suggest that we as outsiders can judge the impact of the 'ills' of another country.   How can we compare?  Do you really think things are the same everywhere?  Seems to me North Americans in particular have a good deal less to complain about.

Mofo hit the nail on the head-and Im very guilty of b***hing about s**t and not doing f**k about it.
BUT-I will not participate in a phoney "election" which is sponsered by the super rich for the super rich.
f**k THAT.
I WILL stand on the outside-I WILL continue to say the world is f**ked-and yes-I know I'm f**ked-but if it gives a nudge to someone with more balls and power then me-good.
Tyranny and nazism is what it is-and if in my ifintisimal way I can help-even with a minor rant on a movie message board-I goddam will.
f**k evil overriding murdering  politics...and their "idealistic" followers.
Evreyone  has the right to believe in what the f**k they want-as long as it doesnt involve killing people-thats just common f**king sense.

And after reading my own post-I dont reckon my habit of using the word f**k makes me too intelligent.
Aw-f**k it. f**king f**king f**k.

But even Trevor isn't really sure what the letter is specifically about. And even if it refers to, say, the end of apartheid, is he for or against it? Trevor seems to think this person misses the good old days, and has been waiting 20 years for things to settle down and get better for him. The other view, which you've suggested, is that he's saying apartheid isn't really gone in practice, and he's been waiting 20 years for the equality everyone was promised.

To use a North American example, one person might see justice and equality in programs for the poor that raise them to a higher standard of living, while somebody else will say justice and equality is letting people keep their tax dollars and giving them all the same chance to succeed or fail on their own. If all they do is rant about justice and equality, I don't know if I agree or not.

Even if this were a Canadian letter, I'd be scratching my head.

And I am guilty of all of the above-except one thing.
I dont give a flying f**k what happens to this s**t ball world.
I hope it DOES self implode.
Me with it. :hatred:
Dont worry-I aint the kind of psycho who is gonna dye my hair and go ballistic at a Batman movie.
No-I'll just rant on a movie message board and drink the world away.  :bluesad:
Idealism is for idealists-I am not that.
Im a nihiist.
I beleieve we are all born f**kED.
Theres that word again! :wink:

Damn.
After re-reading my insane posts I'm not very useful.
I should just shut my mouth and keep my "hate the world-its f**ked" opinion to myself.
Sorry....i'm a very sorry moron at times.

If it were a Canadian letter it would be about something in the Canadian news, commonly discussed among Canadians and on everyones' minds. You would have the whole set of referents already; there would be no need for the background to be spelled out in the letter itself.  

No doubt at all in my mind that the writer is ANTI-Apartheid.

It occurred to me this afternoon that it is just a bit ironic that the prevailing opinion here appears to be that if one is disenchanted and uncomfortable with the political climate in one's home country, one should stay there regardless and effect change; this coming from people whose forerunners (biological or not) included a large portion of emigrants who left their homelands to become Americans (hyphenated or non - and doesn't the hyphen indicate pride in and love of one's country of origin?) in order to escape what they felt were unresolvable political, economic and other differences.  

It's OK, Ronnie, you can vent to us - we're FAMILY!

I actually can't explain this letter writer other than to say that he / she has given up on South Africa which makes me more than a little  :bluesad:

f**k him-yer OK.
You gotta big heart-maybe too big.
Rise above-rise above,my freind.

That's pretty much it in a nutshell.

I don't imagine the writer is too happy about it either.

    Point taken, Newt. However, do you just let people destroy your home?