I spent most of the past week reflecting about and writing down more of my observations of life here in South Africa. I realize this is a very short term I have been here but I feel as though I am starting to get a better sense of people and while I still feel as an outsider, some things start to make more sense...
Crime - You would think that I would be tempted to say it is bad here, because of what happened a few weeks ago. But I can't, in fact I think at least here in Pretoria it is no worse than any other city in the world. Yes there is poverty and yes it happens but it is more about opportunistic theft than what I would say a criminal that gets his rocks off on actually doing the deed. In fact just the other day in my colleauges office which had two laptops and was locked someone somehow managed to get in and take them and the power cables that were in a bag and a hard drive that was under some papers. They took nothing else! My other friend that works for an airline company was working his shift on a plane (he does maintenance) with 15 other people in a restricted access area when he dropped his 5 dollar watch, it was gone and of course no one new anything about it. It is easier this way no one gets hurt and well after all its just a watch or just a computer which means however many Rand someone can get for hawking it.
Economy - There is 25% unemployment here in South Africa, according to the latest figures, it has actually gone down but obviously this is way too high! There is a lof of desire to get things done and get people employed but there is also a lot of resistance to change and making it a competetive market. They are thinking now of forcing companies to buy local at least 75% of their components. This is a great idea but you need to be able to find the right quality and should not force people into something that could breed complacency and or a lack of hard work since it is known their product or service must be utilized. It is a very complex problem here and my fear is that only incremental progess will be taken and that can result in serioud poltical unrest if this number does not come down significantly. I work in the area of Laser Enabled Manufacturing (providing high tech solutions - that are laser based) to ensure that SA Manufacturing industry can be competitive and create new opportunities. I came here because I saw a chance to make a difference and we will but it is not an easy process, you have to work past peoples fears of technology or sometimes just the fact that they may not be aware of it. I did not thinki it would be easy to do here so it is no surprise, I just hope I can meet the right people to ensure we achieve our goals!
Race - I do not want to give names or specifics but it is clear that there is still a lot of resentment and misunderstanding between white and black South Africans. Depending on the place and situation typically I will have whites telling me how bad crime is and how unfortunate it is. Most of the black people I have met around South Africa are typically very warm and friendly and I seem to relate to them a bit more. They certainly keep to themselves and again not that I have been everywhere but I rarely see equals (black and white) working together. Blacks tend to work with other blacks and vice versa. Again not that this is bad or anything it is merely an observation.
Education - I have not been to any schools, but I have ahd schools come visit us and we do have interns and some graduate students (most of which are really good) but I found out to pass what we would call our university exams here all you need to get is better than 30% heck I would have been an A student here. I do not know how the other levels are but it is clear there is a lot of work to be done here, how to train teachers so they can provide students with the right skill sets. Sounds familiar?
Well...I will come back to these some time later and see what if anything changes.
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