A Reddit user wrote an open letter to South Africa, encouraging the country to stand up for itself, to stop letting people abuse it and to learn to love itself.
South Africa (30 October 2023) – Next year is an election year which means, it’s time for South Africans to start making it clear which behaviours are no longer accepted. At the end of the day, the power lies with the people and it is our job to make sure we place that power in the hands that will serve us best.
One South African Reddit user wrote an open letter to South Africa, explaining how much is loved about the country and calling it out for allowing the bad things to keep happening. The letter was written and shared by user TMoosa0, who wanted to address South Africa and encourage her to face on her abusive parents, telling them it’s not ok to keep mistreating her.
We got the message loud and clear! Let’s hope South Africa gets it too.
“I light up like a braai flame when I think of you. Somehow you found it easy to treat a little East Rander like a Camps Bayer. South Africa, my love for you runs deep. I only wish you’d loved me enough to have been consistent.
I hear what people say about you. They talk about all the things I’ve experienced, too. How only your food slaps harder than my mother’s plakkie. Or how your weather makes me feel warm and comforted, like I just ate a plate of Briyani. You speak so many languages – I brag about you to all my friends. I tell them about your brilliant mind and your very many accomplishments over time: The world’s first heart transplant? That was you! The ending of apartheid? Also you! I could embrace you at the thought of that.
I know you get tired sometimes and need to turn the lights off for a rest. We all need a little break. You make this country so romantic for us…
I know police officers need a coke sometimes. It’s hard work chasing criminals. And what has broken me is how many times you’ve set them free to harm so many, including me.
South Africa, your soil is rich but you cannot plant new crops while you carry bags from a lifetime ago. Your heart is full but you give it over to men who abuse it because you’re afraid of something new.
Why do you turn away from your children? The vulnerable ones whose cries echo into a chamber, creating a path of loss and confusion. How do you think they’ll find their way to greatness without your parental support?
Yet still, I am willing to take a chance on you. And I hope I am not fooled. I am willing to enjoy your uncertainty of self, but only if you start loving yourself. And that comes with sacrificing parts of yourself in favour of the whole…
South Africa, please, don’t make us say goodbye.”
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