A South African post is going viral for all the right reasons!
South Africa (27 October 2017) – A single Facebook post managed to do something South Africa often struggles with: get people talking to each other… openly, honestly and with a sense of humour.
Louwrence van Niekerk, a 23-year-old South African living in London, took to his Facebook page, Joburger, and invited black and white South Africans to ask each other the questions they’d always been curious about but never quite knew how to ask. The result wasn’t division. It was laughter, learning and a moment of unity that spread far beyond social media.
Originally from Cape Town, Louwrence jokingly refers to himself as “The Joburger”, and it was that familiar, playful tone that helped people feel comfortable enough to join in. The post wasn’t about proving a point or calling anyone out. It was about curiosity. And creating space for conversations that don’t often happen in everyday life. Hundreds of South Africans responded, and nothing was off limits. Questions ranged from the light-hearted to the surprisingly thoughtful, touching on habits, cultural quirks and shared experiences that many people had noticed but never spoken about.
From why some white South Africans walk barefoot in public, to their love of haunted houses, to the universal confusion around why Sweet Caroline sends people into a full singalong frenzy… every question was met with honesty, humour and a refreshing willingness to laugh at ourselves.
Our office couldn’t contain the giggles while reading through the comments. The questions came from a good place, and the answers did too. People weren’t defensive. They leaned in.
Some favourites included:
Q: “Why do white women go to a salon, pay big money, only to come out looking the same?”
A: “I’m white and I also wanna know this.”
A: “That is a mystery even to white men.”
A: “You don’t understand the struggle of a man when your mum asks if you like her hair and you don’t notice the difference.”
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Q: “Why do y’all get hyped for Sweet Caroline?”
A: “So that we can shout ‘pum pum’ as loud as we want.”
A: “I’m not gonna lie… that song is a banger. No wonder white people are always happy.”
A: (followed by a hilariously detailed psychological breakdown involving alcohol, conditioning and ‘some weird tribe’).
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Q: “I asked to speak to the manager, then the managing director… is this the correct order?”
A: “Supervisor, manager, area manager, PA to the MD, then the MD. If all else fails, the MD’s wife or mother.”
The list goes on for hours… and that’s exactly the point. What made this moment special wasn’t just the laughs. It was the tone. People answered honestly, teased themselves and listened. In a country where conversations about race often feel heavy or loaded, this one felt human.
And South Africans noticed.
One commenter wrote, “Reading all these comments made me so happy and proud to be South African. It shows how different, and how similar, we really are. If we just talk to each other, we can work through things together.”
Another shared, “If blacks and whites actually sat down and spoke, we’d realise we have far more in common than we think. Some of the best people I know are white. It’s time we got to know each other and made peace.”
That’s why this story matters. Not because it solved anything overnight. But because it showed what can happen when curiosity replaces assumptions, and when humour makes space for understanding. Sometimes unity doesn’t come from big speeches or formal panels. Sometimes it starts with a simple question, asked with the right intention.
Update: The Joburger Facebook page and its original content have since been removed. However, we’re keeping this story because of the joy it brought and the conversations it sparked. And because moments like these remind us that talking to each other, even about the small things, can bring us closer than we think.
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