South Africa is a beautiful place and today I want to say don’t be an AABSA (Anything, Anywhere But South Africa) person. For those who are not South African we have a national banking chain called ABSA (I have added an A) so we who live in South Africa will remember that we shouldn’t be AABSA’s. There are too many AABSA people in South Africa and abroad. I think many of the worst AABSA’s are those South Africans who have left or are leaving our nation to seek greener pastures elsewhere. If you choose to leave, God bless you, may it go well for you, and may the pastures be greener on the other side and not because of the manure that you may encounter there. Could I encourage those who may be feeling like AABSA’s today to look away from the negatives and for a moment look to the positives of our beautiful South Africa?
Today is a public holiday here in South Africa, but Jozi has already started to empty out as people make their way out of the city on their way to holiday. Seaside photos are already filling up Facebook feeds as families take a well-deserved vacation. Johannesburg, usually a busy twenty-four hour a day, bustling, economic hub of Africa slows down and things quieten.
I love Jozi in December, it is a beautiful city and the biggest man-made forest on the planet. Don’t be an AABSA person. People are friendly, invitations to homes abound, and wherever you drive you can smell the all too familiar smell of a boerie and chop braai taking place. A short drive out of the city can find you seeing the Big 5, fly fishing, mountain climbing, and encountering beautiful scenery that will take your breath away. Don’t be an AABSA person.
You can find world-class restaurants with cuisine that makes your imagination run away and mouth water in Jozi and the surroundings. Buying fresh food and fantastic wine to have friends and family over is always a treat and the quality available is comparable to the best in the world. Don’t be an AABSA person.
If the fancy takes you, a drive of a few hours can get you to the Kruger National Park, or the Pilansberg National Park both of which have incredible accommodations, the Big Five, and incredibly friendly people who will make you feel welcome in a host of places available to stay. Don’t be an AABSA person.
Feel like the beach, drive a few hours and you will be on the Kwazulu Natal Coastline which has Blue Flag Beaches all up and down the coast, friendly people, warm weather, ice cream, delicious seafood and lovely places to stay. Don’t be an AABSA person.
Feel like a romantic road trip, drive down to Gqeberha stopping halfway at Colesburg and staying at the Gallop Inn for the night and encountering small-town folk, delicious food, cold beers and delectable wine. From Gqeberha take a leisurely two or three-week drive down the Garden Route (coast) which has views and beauty which will take your breath away, stopping at small towns all the way to one of the wonders of the world Cape Town. Don’t be an AABSA person.
Cape Town, one of the most incredible cities on the planet is host to unsurpassed natural beauty, world-class restaurants, the Winelands, Table Mountain, Chapmans Peak, Lions Head, False and Hout Bay and so much more. Leaving Cape Town you can drive up the West Coast along the Atlantic Seaboard. It is a hauntingly beautiful place, Paternoster, Langebaan, St. Helena Bay, and others are worth visiting. Don’t be an AABSA person.
Most people you meet in South Africa are welcoming, warm, and friendly, and will engage in passionate conversation about the weather, the Springboks, Bafana Bafana, how hot a braai should be to cook the perfect lamb chop, how many times said chop should be turned, and how well done it should be, and a host of other ‘important’ matters. Laughter abounds, conversation is easy, and food together is delicious and fun. More so we have the privilege of a melting pot of cultures and languages, the diversity we live in gives us South Africans a unique perspective of the other and I truly believe that all of us want Ubuntu. Ubuntu is an African word meaning ‘humanity to others’. It is often described as reminding us that ‘I am what I am because of who we all are’. Don’t be an AABSA person.
There is much more I could write about our beautiful South Africa and her amazing people, but mostly I wanted to say that if you are an AABSA person, could I encourage you to look up and look around at the incredible people around, the beauty, wonder of this amazing place we live in called South Africa. Don’t be an AABSA!
Andrew Christie 