BRAIN DRAIN

"What are the five most common reasons people leave South Africa and what is the single most common thing they would want to have happen in South Africa before they went back?"

Being an ex-pat anywhere is a strange sensation. But being an ex-pat from a country where my folks were ex-pats makes me a non ex-pat... anywhere.

Doesn't it?

People assume I'm English and sometimes they think I'm Australian or a Kiwi, and I get asked about my "twang" less these days. But I was raised in a very different world.

I grew up under the African sky and the African sun, and my bare feet used to run through hot African soil. I used to climb trees that were shared by the tree snakes, the green mambas and the monkeys. The sounds and smells were different. The approach to life and to one another was different. More up front. Everyone knew the social rules. (Forget for a moment that a lot of them were dicatated.)

Here there is secrecy and mock humility and a deep ingrained social injustice and intolerance. But you look to other countrys to "save". Where are your placards and slogans for YOUR country?

Why did I start this rant?

I guess I get "homesick" sometimes.

I want my Leon Place.

Aikona.