Proudly South African- a little wary but there is hope

I’ve been away from South Africa for almost eight months and my homesickness hasn’t quite settled down. I still think: if I was back home I would do this or back home I could get this but the recent media reports have made me less nostalgic.
During my teenage years I was very politically conscious, I usually had an opinion on the state of things and wasn’t too afraid to voice them. As the years went by I lost my fervor for politics, I decided that it was all too much and my ranting and raving won’t achieve much. However, the latest media reports from home have me worried and secretly wishing for some sort of duality with my nationality. A friend said it could be because now that I live in Japan, I am able to look at things from the outside and therefore am able to thoroughly point out shortcomings that have really always been there.

As someone who worked a short while within the media, I still feel an affinity to the fraternity. I was shocked when I read the latest tension (to say the least) between journos and the youth wing of the ruling party. I must’ve read ANC YL spokesperson, Floyd Shivambu’s letter addressed to ‘the mob’ three times to make sure that I wasn’t misreading anything. The arrogance conveyed in the letter is an indication of how far the ANC has steered away from their ‘better life for all’ vision. They really should’ve replaced the ‘all’ with ‘us’ after they got their two thirds. Between the ANC YL leader getting away with saying almost anything that comes to mind and the spokesperson threatening to reveal personal information about journalists, they have become the untouchables. I find it disturbing that so many young and seemingly competent South Africans are members of the league. What must be going through the mind of someone who willingly supports this group? Is it an affiliation based solely on colour? Do they think that because Juju and his crew are black, they will automatically look after their interests? I cannot find any logic that would drive any young South African to openly support the ANC YL. The reports of his latest rhetoric seems to indicate a sexist, racist, capitalist whose greatest pleasure is the sound of his own voice and the crowd of sheep cheering him on.
I take my hat off to the journos who are relentless at taking them on and would like to commend SANEF and ProJourn for backing them all the way. The media has played a pivotal role in the liberation struggle working together with what seemed to be the party that would lead South Africans to Canaan. Hopefully the constant prodding and disturbance of their tender-filled utopia might remind them why so many South Africans have still put their lives in their hands. I on the other will continue to live and work abroad while closely watching the latest events in my country. I will live in the hope that I will be back home to help build and grow this country that has a lot to be proud of.