Steve Mandy

I watched in horror as Andre de Ruyter opened up about the corruption at ESKOM. All my time in SA, I had been positive about the future. I knew hard times were upon us, but, like many South Africans, I chose to be positive. It was horrible.

De Ruyter had nothing to gain from lying. In fact, by stating the truth he put himeself and his entire family in absolute danger. So much so, that he and his entire family had to skip the country and go into hiding.

To this day, they don’t know where he is.

The ANC want him to come back so that they can assassinate him and apologize for not providing enough protection.

South Africa is fucked. I wish there was a less vulgar word to describe the predicament, but there isn’t. Every bit of news I hear from my home confirms this. Deeper and deeper we go down the hole.

Jacob Zuma forming a new party and being heralded like a hero. It defies all sensibility.

Julius Malemna telling his followers that Africans were playing rugby before the settlers arrived and thousands of people cheering their agreement. What the fuck?

I am glad I got out with something, but I cry for the people who don’t have the choice to leave. Not just white people, oh yes, the rest of the world like to believe that white South Africans are evil people who hate black people. My biggest regret is that I can’t save the beautiful black people I have had the honor to know from what is about to befall them. It’s not fair.

Do I feel like a traitor for leaving? Yes. Would I change that? No.

When I returned to South Africa in 1979, I left a life of multiracial neutrality for one of racial suppression, inequality. I knew it was wrong. There were rules about who you could sit with. Who you could be friends with, who you could kiss. I loved the look on the faces of racists as I openly engaged with different race groups.

But, here we are. It turns out all the naysayers were right. The culture of black people in SA is too fixated with revenge to think clearly, or, at least that is what it looks like to me. You want votes? Play the race card.

There is a kickback. Lots of black people are repulsed by the hypocritical, populist utterances of Melema and Jacob and they are ready to take a stand.

Too Late.

The problem is not confined to political change. The criminal cartels call the shots now. No matter the DA gets in power, they will never cleanse the landscape of the criminals who call the shots. They will never tame the taxi bosses. They will never gain control. There will be assassinations as good people, black, white and brown try their best to prove that good can overcome evil. It can’t.

The breakdown of my marriage devastated me. I loved the thought of my future with that person. My world was crushed. 

What it did mean was that my whole worldly wealth had to be liquidated. As if by some kind of divine intervention this provided that perfect time to ship everything overseas and start a new life. I have a daughter in London, but she can’t look forward to a world of looking after dad. The logical solution was that I would go to Wales to stay with my sister.