By Mpho Ramosili
South Africa was recently rated the sixth most-desired country to relocate to in the world in a research study conducted by Compare Market Australia.
The study assists users in Australia in finding a home loan that matches their individual needs and circumstances.
The website analysed each country on its annual search volume for terms such as “relocating to (country)” and “moving to (country)” to reveal the world’s most desirable countries to relocate to.
The research study found Canada to be the most-desired country to relocate to in the world, followed by Japan, Spain, China and France, which all ranked in the top five.
Turkey tied with South Africa in sixth along with India, Australia, and Greece.
The irony of Australians rating my country this highly as a desired potential home was not lost on me as a citizen who is fed regular media reports of South Africans fleeing en masse to relocate to Australia.
Upon further reflection, another irony emerged, and this was the fact that it took my Swiss host parents’ first visit to South Africa in the early 1990s for me to not only realise but also appreciate how beautiful this country is.
The question leveled at me was “when you were staying with us, why didn’t you tell us South Africa was this beautiful?” This question from my late host father, an engineer by profession, equated to high praise.
He was impressed by not only the natural beauty of this country and its people but also the nation’s infrastructure.
That conversation lifted a veil I hadn’t even been aware was skewing my view. I had a jaundiced opinion of my own home country fuelled by the prevailing conditions of the time and thereby could not see or appreciate the beauty and value that my Swiss host parents did. Unawares, I had been carrying the generational Black South African legacy of the brutally dispossessed.
Born and raised in the Free State during the height of the apartheid era, the beauty of this country was not mine as a young, black South African to enjoy. My parents and forebears had worked and built it for others’ enjoyment.
To give the reader some perspective, my first school trip to the sea was to Durban in the late 1970s when I was in primary school.
As learners and our teachers, we were hosted by another school in Kwa-Mashu where we slept on the floor in the school hall for the duration of the visit. Also as natives, the only beach we were allowed to visit and swim at was Umgababa.
My parents had made me pay my way, a princely R30.
I was given R5 start-up capital, and for several weeks after school and Saturdays, I traded in everything I could think of including oranges, boiled eggs, sweets, and groundnuts until I had raised around R100.
I had excitedly left the comfort of my home only to end up sleeping on the floor of some school hall.
I don’t know how much appreciation could have been fostered for the country’s infrastructure by similar experiences of Black South Africans.
The question then becomes; what does all the above have to do with reputation, particularly the reputation of Country South Africa.
Take note that I did not say Brand South Africa.
Reputation is defined by reputation management practitioners as, beliefs or opinions that are generally held about someone or something; or a widespread belief that someone or something has a particular characteristic.
They further purport that when one has a trusted personal reputation then people are likely to trust one’s business, products, or services.
Ultimately, trust creates credibility. So, what is the prevailing reputation of South Africa by its native citizens, and does it matter?
Results of a recent study by Global Reputation show that South Africa continues to remain top of mind in Investments, Exports, Tourism, and Talent Attraction. Investment-wise, 59% of respondents say they would invest in the country, while 75% indicated they would do business with South Africa.
These sentiments are directly attributed to South Africa’s ease of doing business environment, appealing regulatory environment, and vibrant entrepreneurial landscape.
Given the above, I am not aware of any reputation studies conducted amongst Black South Africans regarding their country.
Trending reports tend to favour what others think of South Africa, thereby giving natives little to no opportunity to articulate own views instead of merely reflecting on others’ opinions, which practice could inadvertently entrench accepted, albeit false, perceptions.
One could also view this trend to be reminiscent of the apartheid mindset which sought to control Black thought.
Except for robust ramblings on social media, not enough expression of Black thought is adequately represented without political innuendo.
This could to some extent explain the fractious nature of debates regarding the destruction of the nation’s infrastructure and the lack of cohesion regarding appropriate means to be taken to stabilise and protect them for posterity.
Reputation is worthy of reflection, especially since presently South Africa is seemingly doing an inadequate job of managing its reputation in general and the risks to this reputation in particular.
There seems to be a prevailing sentiment to not even attempt to apply any effort towards managing threats to either individual or country reputations that have already surfaced.
There seems to be neither risk management and crisis management at play nor being contemplated by those who should be doing so.
Reputational risk can range from potential to damage to the public's perception of the country, organisational or individual.
I elect to refrain from articulating any particular reputation examples to allow readers the opportunity to reflect on their own.
What I can share is that reputation management practitioners claim four indicators as primary components of reputation, namely trust, admiration, good feeling, and overall esteem.
Reputation affects our lives as South Africans in many ways, and therefore, matters.
Country, organisational and individual reputations are closely linked and ultimately determine future opportunities.
This is because others' perception of us precedes us before we even enter the room, and our perception of ourselves is just as equally important.
Black South Africans make up the majority of this country’s citizenry.
They are not just numbers for reporting on or exploiting. If they are expected to decide the future of this country their true feelings and opinions need to be taken into consideration.
The simplistic view of dividing them up into camps is short-sighted, lazy politicking, and ultimately self-defeatist.
The renewal and nurturing of Black South Africans’ appreciation for this country’s assets including its infrastructure, which they have helped build and died for, is long overdue.
The reputation and future of this country rest largely in their hands.
Mpho Ramosili is a marketer and stakeholder relations at National Housing Finance Corporation and is writing in her personal capacity.
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