CHAPTER 31

ENGLAND

TWO YEARS LATER




Paddy sat at this gate for hours waiting for John to come home from work. He couldn't understand why he couldn't go with him







We decided to set a limit to our search for the pot of gold. We gave ourselves a further six months to find our feet or return to South Africa.  Lack of work, on my part, and low salaries for John meant we were eating into our savings.  

In spite of all the wonderful things on offer, the safety, the good roads, and the close proximity to Europe for holidays, Africa was still calling. There was something lacking there and it’s called warmth, not the sunshine warmth even, but the human kind, where people smile and talk to you whatever their race or class. There is human interaction in Africa which has been replaced by technology elsewhere.








Yes there are many people who have made the decision to move away from South Africa and stayed; made it their home. Some have been successful and make enough money to spend their holidays on the Continent or return home for visits to their South African families. 

I made contact with many South Africans in the UK, or Saffas, as they call themselves. Every one of them, without exclusion, miss their lives in South Africa, miss their families, their friends and the easy lifestyle they led there. They told me they’d settled down well and many had been there for over ten years. Why then, do they still refer to South Africa as “home”? Why do they have so many South African get-togethers, where they serve Pap en Wors for lunch and listen to Afrikaans music? Why do they still want to watch Leon Schuster’s movies? Why do they save all their Pounds to fly home to South Africa for their holidays?  

The majority of these people have young families and feel a responsibility to bring them up in a safe and secure country where they will be afforded the opportunities denied them in South Africa. All parents want the best for their children and I applaud these people for making the sacrifice.  However, I wonder if they’ve considered what it means to the families left behind and to their own children who are deprived of their grandparents and other family members.

Some will lose their mother tongue and all will be deprived of experiencing the joy of living in Africa, something that can only be experienced and not easily described. Who will teach them about ubuntu?  Most, as with other nationalities, will form small communities around the country “little South Africas” scattered throughout the world, where people can still speak their own language, use slang words that only fellow-South Africans would understand, like babbelas, ja-nee and ag shame!  Who else would understand when you refer to your bakkie or Oom.  

When they then told me that they’re happy and well settled in their new home country, I felt that in a way they’re cheating! They’ve simply recreated their home country in the UK instead of integrating with the English and embracing the British way of life. But how do you give up all that wonderful sun-kissed way of life, the words that so perfectly describe what we mean, and the informal, friendly attitude of the people?

I learnt a lot in the two years I lived in the UK, most of which has been mentioned in this book. But most importantly I’ve learnt that having everything available to me at my fingertips, smooth roads, a reliable postal service and fast internet will never replace the smell of a thunderstorm, the happy and expressive people, the sense of humour, the many different cultures, the space and the freedom to be myself. 

I would forever long for the sound of crickets chirping in the warm night air and those noisy Hadedas shouting me awake each morning. When I listened to Algoa FM day after day and smiled when I heard the familiar accents I became scared that soon I wouldn’t remember that special earthy smell as the first rain drops fall on the dry dusty earth. 

I asked myself if it would be possible to forget Africa and grow new roots in a foreign land?

My heart answered: “Never!”



Nobody could understand how I can prefer the dusty brown African landscape to the vibrant green of England

 

Location: Bathurst, South Africa

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