Letter: Promise of new SA in 1994 not realised

IN a few days’ time we will leave lovely Port Elizabeth and start our journey back to England. We leave behind many dear friends and a super way of life, a way of life we have worked for over decades.

It has been a wonderful 40 years that I thought would not come to an end. The beautiful countryside and friendly people set up a South Africa that was ready to take on the world.

Backed by natural wealth and tourism, it was on the brink of a great rainbow success story. But it was not to be.

Our family has all gone in search of a better future and we were left to consider our own situation in a country being torn apart by the current crop of politicians.

Over the years I have written the odd letter to The Herald about matters that concerned me, but most issues are well known and need no further comment.

Surely it is obvious that this ANC government has lost its way and gone down the road of short-term self-gratification at the expense of the poor, the unemployed and the voter.

It smashed the ideas of ethical behaviour and lost the moral high ground as its integrity was tested. Locally the Eastern Cape is a terrible example of dreadful governance, and all the negative results that fall on the economy and its peoples.

The challenge is to get the message across to the majority of South Africans who continue to vote in this lot of disgraced ANC members. It says volumes about the opposition parties who struggle to make meaningful headway in this fertile scenario.

It also suggests that the rural community see food parcels, T-shirts and social security as payment enough for years of struggle. But surely not.

The urban unemployed who live in squalor with little hope represent a bubbling pot of unrest.

We go with sadness and regret, but we do not have the time left to wait for the turnaround that will come one day. We have lived through the wonders of the birth of a new nation and yet the job is not yet done.

Our own lives are in their autumn and the pull to join family means that we must leave this lovely South Africa.

I would like to write more letters with perhaps an English view of the big skies and golden sunsets that shine still in that far-off place at the bottom of Africa. Until then I wish everyone farewell.