south africa not african enough

[machiavella]

i don't know whose heard anyway Africa is to get a permanent UN seat and the contest was/is between SA and Nigeria ,and the nigerians say that we are not a true reflection of africa because we are essentially not black in terms of our society values.At first I was like wtf? but  when i calmed down I realised that they might have a point.

South african culture is more eurocentric than afrocentric, with all the xenophobia and stuff going on,our african brothers are not blind to this.

I'm still uneasy about it ,not sure but its something to think about...how african is south africa?

[the brand®]

South african culture is more eurocentric than afrocentric, with all the xenophobia and stuff going on,our african brothers are not blind to this.
/quote]

i hear u girl
to us being blak is being white while we hate whites being blak

[Blaque_Poetess]

Yeah, fa sho, we are definitely very eurocentric!!! I dont agree with us not being a true reflection of africa tho, because what really defines being an african??? Its nothing thats tangible, and whilst many ppl shy away from their 'africanness' or 'blackness' or whatever a lot of us actually embrace it. Society and cultures are continuously evolving and i think its about finding sum sort of balance..Living in a cosmopolitan environment but still adhering to your roots as an African. As for the whole UN thing tho, i think SA and NIGERIA are both equally capable of doing the job. I dont really mind who gets the seat, as long as they represent for everyone...we are afterall all working for a common goal right???

[BHLAKHROZE]

I'm still uneasy about it ,not sure but its something to think about...how african is south africa?

...this question always leads down the " define what african is " route

[the brand®]

so b4 we go there lets leave it

[biz-ark-human]

Speakin from a non-south african, african point of view, i sorta feel sa peeps got a lotta hostility towards other nations. it's also really huge in different media, e.g. tv, radio, etc..

BUT THEN AGAIN...

take lesotho for example. chinese peeps are infesting our country like crap, and pple here got hostility towards them too.

AND...

it's not ALL the ma**es, but it really does count when a group of pple make nasty comments abt. others who aint belonging to they country, race or otherwise..

That's why i really dig hip-hop; it goes beyond boundaries. When Eminem first came out, i never did think for a moment about his skin colour. When i heard Freddy Dilemma, the flow hit me, and not the accent. Hip-hop transcends just the music, it's a critical realiztion of self. I strongly believe it's here for every1 to eventually see the light, thru its spectacles.

What else...YEAH! Don't know if i make sense, bt dat is how i see it...ONE!

[digabledust]

nah people look at soweto we lives side to side withour friends. xeno is only in town coz those people NOT ALL are f***in up our country and they are f***in up our ecomony. they takin there money back home aint investin in anything feasable for us all.
another peice of info SA cud get a seat in the Un security counsel in the next ten years

[the brand®]

the lesotho shit is tru
nothin but india and chiness f***s up in there

but that could coz no one is doin shit to open a shop n shit
coz its a "white thing"

[blaqsouljah]

SOUTH AFRICA is a direction and not a country, what else can one expect from a direction with its people that are lacking direction.

[machiavella]

i like the south africa as a direction idea...i think we are a reflection of change, we are african and european influenced because of our history...we are always changing and finding interesting ways of  making  the best of our situation ,hopefully we are learning  from our past and along the way we'll teach the world even africa a thing or two....

[iLL_eG0_AL13n]

South african culture is more eurocentric than afrocentric, with all the xenophobia and stuff going on,our african brothers are not blind to this.

what the hell does the xenophobia have to do with Eurocentricity?

i've lived in Europe for more than the 1st half of my life n can hardly remember bumpin into single Xenophobic incident...

[alias_the_bending_spoon]

what plan has the nigerian government done to uplift africa, which they claim we are not a true reflection of?
Nepad might not be well desired by the ma**es but its an effort from south africa to uplift africa, for a country that has just got its infant democracy 10 years back we seem to have done alot for africa.
Sa has opened trade in the congo river bettering their economy, what of the burundi peace negotiations, in fact
How many South Africans do we in Nigeria selling drugs? Running Child Prostitution networks?
a true reflection of africa? i think not what i think though is that the whole race card they are tring to plya is a bluff.

but anyway these are just my thoughts here is a much more detailed look on the matter

 

Together, South Africa and Nigeria are the Big Two of the continent, home to 160 million of sub-Saharan Africa's 600 million people. They are the most populous, and most developed nations - clearly the superpowers of the continent. Their successes or failures will likely determine the future of the entire region.

With that power comes responsibility. Because they have more sophisticated systems relative to their neighbors, other African countries can learn from their successes. Democracy and economic reform must work in South Africa and Nigeria so that they can in turn serve as regional models and problem solvers. And they must set the tone for diplomacy, building relationships both between African nations and with governments around the world.

Recent developments suggest that the two countries, rivals for years, are now on the right track.

Nigeria's successive dictators disdained South African apartheid and were highly critical of the racist, Afrikaner regime - even though they were no saints themselves on the human-rights front. When majority rule returned to South Africa, the tables turned. Then-President Nelson Mandela became a vocal, prominent opponent of Nigeria's military dictator at the time, Gen. Sani Abacha.

Now that both countries are making the transition to democracy, they are beginning to understand their own strategic importance. Recently, the two governments adopted cooperative agreements on trade, taxes, education, mining and energy. In agriculture, they agreed to collaborate on research and training, production, technology, food security and market access.

South African businesses now top the list of foreign firms examining investment in Nigeria. A South African cable television network, widely viewed in Nigeria, last year became the first wholly foreign company to be quoted on the small but growing Nigerian Stock Exchange. South Africa's electric company, Eskom, is negotiating with Nigeria's electric utility to help repair and operate Nigeria's crumbling national grid.

Later this month, South African Airways will start operating a joint flight with Nigeria Airways on the busy and lucrative Lagos-New York route.

The two nations are also crucial to regional peace-keeping. Nigeria deserves credit for sending troops to Sierra Leone, Liberia and the Ivory Coast. Their efforts have been praised and supported by both the Clinton administration and the United Nations.

South African President Thabo Mbeki was the star of last month's 150-nation U.N. Millennium Summit, largely because he deftly articulated Africa's issues and urged fellow Africans to develop a sort of Marshall Plan for the continent. The British-educated economist is a soft-spoken but powerful advocate for what he calls the "African Renaissance."

Mbeki even managed take the focus off his controversial views on HIV and AIDS. Those views attracted media attention over the last six months after he raised questions about whether HIV infection is the cause of the disease.

While there are promising signs from South Africa and Nigeria, the Big Two and regional organizations must do more to calm Africa's trouble spots. During the summit, African diplomats agreed that Zimbabwe and the war-ravaged Congo affect regional development. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe vowed to continue expropriating white-owned farms (violently, if necessary), going against his own government's rule of law. He defiantly rejected a U.N. compromise aimed at ending the crisis.

Yet other African presidents are timid about publicly criticizing Mugabe. When our journalists' group asked Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano about the Zimbabwean farm crisis, he replied, "Mugabe is no Idi Amin." Nor would Nigerian officials criticize Mugabe openly. U.S. diplomats told us they believe leaders are trying to work with Mugabe behind the scenes.

Still, African leaders should put more pressure on him. And they should not have been shy about taking even Mbeki to task - especially when he was so clearly wrong about AIDS. As U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has often said, Africans must own up to their mistakes. They must have the fortitude and political will to candidly confront peers who jeopardize regional progress.

It is especially important for Nigeria and South Africa to help resolve land-distribution issues. Zimbabwe's crisis could easily spill into Kenya and South Africa; whites still own the best farmland in those countries as well. Already Zimbabwe's conflict has contributed to devaluation of South Africa's currency. And U.S. officials predict that the disruption of production on Zimbabwean farms could lead to critical food shortages in coming months. Clearly, civil conflict and political upheaval in one nation can spill across borders to affect neighboring countries.

Africa's Big Two are uniquely positioned to analyze the continent's major problems and provide the leadership to solve them.

courtesy of http://www.startribune.com/stories/1654/17293.html

[Dpleezy]

SA not African enough?! that's some bullshit right there.

Maybe we would be more 'African' if we introduced Islamic Sharia law in SA and start stoning people to death for adultery?

Nigeria please!

[eef_haf]

Speakin from a non-south african, african point of view, i sorta feel sa peeps got a lotta hostility towards other nations. it's also really huge in different media, e.g. tv, radio, etc..

BUT THEN AGAIN...

take lesotho for example. chinese peeps are infesting our country like crap, and pple here got hostility towards them too.

AND...

it's not ALL the ma**es, but it really does count when a group of pple make nasty comments abt. others who aint belonging to they country, race or otherwise..

Its the same all over the world. Just some places worse than others.

[mahoganysoulchild]

congratulations to south africa, i beleive that @ this point in time it is capable doin the position it has been given jusice. i do think however that nigeria would have been equally capable of holdin shit down had it gotten the job. i do think that in order to represent a nation, forgive me to represent an african nation u need to know, exept and embrace its  people. i am a not of this country but i am of this nation, and i find that discrimination of south africans against people like myself is becomin extremly bad. As africans we have forgotten where we come from, we are too involved in tryin to look like sumthin outta a cosmopolitan mag that we no longer want to wear our head wraps and walk proudly in our tribal wear. we have forgotten what togetherness means because even after we where divided then liberated we made no attempts to try and re-unite ourselves. yes nigerianz have been known for drug traffickin, child prostitution but lets not forget that nigeria as a nation did not do this and not every single nigerian is respoinsible for this. lets stop discriminating against people that cum from diffrent nations we do not know what has brought them to our countries and we do not know what will happen to them if we send them back. once again congrates to S.A for gettin this position now lets see how it represents AFRICA as a whole..........
one luv