A good reason to go
I wrote this article recently for the Mail & Guardian. I have since had some interesting responses to it, so I thought I’d put it up on my blog.
I have been asked to write a piece on why I believe that you as a student should stay in South Africa in the face of the issues that we have to deal with here, particularly the unacceptable levels of crime. But I’m not going to do that, because I don’t believe, and I have never believed, that students should stay in the country when they graduate. In fact I believe that the more graduates who leave South Africa, the better, as long as they come back enriched by their experiences abroad.
What I do recommend, however, is that you avoid telling everyone around you that you are going forever because this place has no future. You may feel like that now, especially if you’ve been a victim of crime, but you don’t honestly know how you will feel after a few years away. Leaving with a great fanfare of negativity makes it hard for you to come back with dignity when you’re done wandering the globe, and you can take it from me that you will eventually miss home. You can always make new friends but you can never make old friends.
We South Africans seem to think that we have some sort of monopoly on problems, particularly on crime. But just in the past week there have been several disturbing examples from abroad, including a bizarre yet intricate plot in the USA by a group of 9-year olds to murder their teacher, clean up the blood and hide the murder weapons. There was also the case of the great nephew of Cape Town’s Sir De Villiers Graaff, a student, who was shot dead in Mexico trying to defend his mother from two muggers.
By travelling you will see that the grass is not always greener on the other side. You will experience that when a power cut affects 15 million people in Florida, chaos ensues, as it has over the past few years in California, Brazil and Chile amongst others. In India or Egypt you’ll find that they just get on with things anyway, despite having no power, but there you will get sick, because that’s what happens when basic hygiene is so much worse than your body is used to. You will find that your luggage gets lost everywhere, like the 20,000 pieces that were lost last week at Heathrow. In Turkey you will learn that their constitutional court is in the process of banning their President and Prime Minister from politics for the next five years.
At the same time you will develop amazing skills, which will put you in great demand around the world, including back here (no matter what colour you are). The skills shortage is an international problem. In fact, according to the OECD, Britain (where the term “brain drain” originated) has lost more skilled professionals than any other country in the world over the past ten years. They are leaving for vibrant and sunny places like Sydney, Miami, Dubai and Cape Town, fleeing a massive increase in violent crime amongst British youth and ongoing immigration to Britain by people like you.
On a recent flight to Morocco I saw an advertisement for Louis Vuitton, which asked the question “Voyage-t-on pour découvrir le monde ou pour le changer?” (Do you travel to discover the world or to change it?) I think that the answer is both. By discovering the world, you see what is possible and you learn how things can be changed. This is why I am leading the charge to use the business community in the Cape to change our future. I’ve seen what can be achieved. Cape Town offers a unique blend of beauty, access to good universities, diverse cultures, great restaurants, a tremendous range of outdoor activities and the ability to access international businesses and three levels of government all in one place. That puts us in an enviable position to create what I refer to as the “Southern Tiger”, a rising power that stands above the rest. It just needs more people like you to travel abroad to experience what others have achieved in the face of similar challenges to ours, and then to come back here and apply the leadership, vision and self-confidence that we need to make it happen.
By the way, as you are leaving from one of our airports that are doubling as construction sites right now, remember that by the time you come home they will have been completed. There will also be new stadiums, roads, fast trains, power stations and harbours that you won’t have seen before. They are an important part of the R400 billion that we are spending on infrastructure to make sure that our economy keeps growing and that you will have more to come back to.
So take my advice and leave South Africa when you graduate. Go and see the world. But remember that, like the character in Paulo Coelho’s book “The Alchemist”, you might find that the treasure you are seeking is actually waiting to be discovered back home.