it's funny how a country like south africa is expected to be some form of utopia-socially,politically and otherwise.the same people who complain about SA's perils fail to identify the historical influence that added to the current situation that they view as beyond aid.a PR campaign will do nothing to change a mindset.all related structures of GVT together with the people of SA are to work towards a common goal of a society that strives to attain social security.considering africa's position on the global village,SA has done more in 13 democratic years,then the ideological and political rape it suffered for more than 4 centuries.

i am not blaming history,but it does not take a rocket scientist to observe that the structure of a country is highly influenced by the prior system and all the dynamics it brought.in as much as we blame BEE,for economic inequalities[whatever that means]
we need to realise that SA has not been given the same time that other developed countries had,to attain social and political wellbeing.yes the crime in this country is sickening,corruption too.however-these are problems that every person contributes too-be they black,white or coloured.

at times the innocent are victims-yes i know,but we have achieved more than what we have failed to attend to.if emigrating will make you feel safer,then be my guest,but stop living in a fairy tale land where goodness prevails 24/7.you will greatly hurt yourself-the world as a whole is a sick,dangerous place.stop being selective about your observations-

which are from a birds eye view in some country that is not of your birth.

I think the fact that the writer gave an international opinion WAS the point!!!

Mate I did migrate like many thousands of other South Africans of all pigmentation. A few points - you have had 13 years of democracy and what have you achieved? Your sport in particular soccer,rugby and cricket is a mess. There is political interference everywhere and is widely publicized wordwide. Business is moving off shore and people live behind barbwire too scared to go for evening walks.Ideological and political rape? Pretty strong words judging what is happening in South Africa today.Not being given time to attain sound political well being? Did you not demand "freedom". Agree Apartheid was evil.Perhaps South Africa should have continued with its homelands policy.Appears to work in the old USSR and Yugoslavia.From a PR point of view exposure of a member of Cabinet going to jail living in luxury and being seen of by the Speaker;or the Zuma shower quote and more recently the Luke Watson business and a government threat to withdraw the passports of the Springbok team, make South Africa look silly. PR and media training for Ministers,execs should be a real money spinner in South Africa. I do that here in Australia.Our big shots/fat cats dont shoot themselves in the foot.
And yes I can walk the streets at night without fear

i think your view ,is actually quiet sad . you come across as someone whom is very pessimistic. SHAME!

South Africa is a lovely country , despite its flaws and again ... dont forget that history[ apartheid] has brought us here ...
Maybe if you actually lived in those times , as a black person , would come to fully appreciate South Africa now .

So please ...... next time you have something to say , please do critisize constructively [ must have educational / intelligent points we can all learn from ], there are lots of us , whom are trying to make SA a better place and economy .

Ohh ... just incase you where wondering what my race is .... Im White but am married to an African .

Gents the point here should be look at how to communicate about the country without getting into political squabling. I believe that we are harddone by our own inthe media as well as those who's intention is to potray ours as another African whose freedom has only managed to bring it to one foot in the grave and another on a banana peel. One thing for sure is that no sane countrymen and woman will allow this to happen. Yet we still need those out there to help in selling(not out)the good that is this country.These you will do while those of us within will attempt on really attending to all that is wrong in this beloved country. Meanwhile no amount of negative publicity will detract us from achieving our goals as a nation.

The diplomats at the SA Embassy in The Hague obviously believe that the boogieman will get them here (long live Brett Kebble), so they have burglar-barred the windows to their grand offices. In a country where electronic security systems are frowned upon and fencing is considered a sport, imagine my disbelieve at the sight of this spectacle; nogal on a 120-year old building. To crown it, this looks like shoddy South African workmanship (The bars have been welded together, not crafted to any spec). Rawl bolts have indiscriminately been fixed into the white marble walls and to do justice to this look are plastic flowers, 3-year old brochures and 3rd generation photocopied stationery. Se-rias-ly! Even the smallest of one-person operators in The Netherlands have properly printed stationery with matching envelopes. Ag sies man.

Comments from Dlamini and Proud to be South African must be taken with a grain of salt. Lazman was more to the point.Do you want solutions? Tighten your border security and screen your migrants. Increase police enforcement introduce a whistlewblower program so should a traffic cops demand R100, you can report him anonynously.Get rid of BEE and AA and employ on merit this will attract foreign investment and create jobs. And whilst you are doing this beat the PR drum as South Africa has a lot of good stories to tell. Proud South African- so you are white and married a black. Congratulations.The fact that you stated this so succinctly reflects your immaturity.Its your protest statement to history.I hope you have a long and happy married life.As for Australia hiding its problems, guys this is a very open and free society.At times I think its democracy gone crazy.Can John Citizen should he ever meet your President say, Hi Tambo,How are you mate!" Well we can call John Howard, Hi John or Hi mate!
So don't tell me we are hiding. Yes, we do have problems and they are out in the open for all to see.Look at our economy. Look at our unemployment rate.Pretty positive.Why? Because we dont have BEE or AA and we dont interfere in sport.You guys have had 13-15 years of independence.What have you done with it? Keep blaming it on the past. Kry 'n lewe Pal!

The above is a simplistic view.What I am really getting at is for South Africa to be more proactive in promoting itself and to negate the adverse publicity thats circulating in the world. Currently its Mbeki being a Mugaby clone. Reference was made to embassies. That's so true. They (Embassies) are South Africa's shop window and should be staffed by a PR person who ensures that only the latest and most fashionable from RSA is on view and available. Your embassy in Qatar is a good example. Your Ambassador in Qatar (and his wife) do great work and are very visible and accessible.
You have the World Cup looming. Don't mess it up.

How dare you insult US, SOUTH AFRICANS by writting all kinds of rubbish on a site like this. The only PR SA needs is for people like you to stop spreading nonsense about crime and corruption to your aussie mates and say something good about the country that gave birth to YOUR sorry self!! WORD OF MOUTH goes a long way.

Do you not know that you constant blaming and complaining is what's doing damage to this country? You and your fellow immigrants give the international media ammunition agaist us, their reporting is exaggerated and is not fully reflective of what's happening in this country.

South Africa does not need you!!!!! If you feel bad about everything this country is going through then stay in WHITE LAND! In time the crime and violence will stop.

You talk about crime, hmmm. The worst type of criminal activity I've ever experienced was in 1986 when a hippo drove into our township and over 50 white policemen started throwing teargas at about 20 kids ALL UNDER THE AGE OF 15 playing hop-scotch in the streets. CRIME? Lets talk about our mothers and fathers not being able to walk the streets because they happen to be a few shades darker than somepeople. OH how about being called a kaffir - that is crime, violence and metal rape!

BEE? Lets not even go there... The fact that you sight that as something bad means you're too small minded to think beyond what you see and hear.

Next time you want to complain put yourself in our shoes!

Please note I said Apartheid was evil. And yes, I admit had I been an African person I would also be a freedom fighter. Having said that, I do believe that the way it is handled now is wrong and NO I will never bad mouth South Africa. The media is doing that because of your politicians, crime and inadequate social structures. Only this week there was a report that all your infrastructure is failing because nothing has been done eg your electricity supply.SAA too was mentioned.Mbeki's failure to pressurise Mugabe to stop murdering his own people has also been noted. So where's the international PR. Agree South Africa needs time but we should be proactive and via a PR and media be more accessible to the media and respond.As for the K word, lady you mentioned that.Not me. I would not dream of using that horrible expression. Its like calling an Arab an infidel!

Don't you dare question my passion for South Africa.As a journalist on the now defunct Rand Daily Mail, the only newspaper at the time with the guts to tackle the Verwoerds of this world, I experienced insults and attacks.We were constantly harrassed by the security branch and colleagues of mine were arrested on an almost a daily basis.I was a member of the team that exposed torture in the Boksburg jail.I did my bit to bring about change.What still rankles is the fact that people like Lawrence Gandar, Margaret Smith, to name but two key editorial figures, have never been recognized by the current government-and by the newspaper fraternity.Using th K word to me I find offensive as I had a lot of African friends at my home,people like the late Percy Qoboza,Editor of the Sowetan. My passion for South Africa is beyond doubt.What I am simply stating is that we should do more to promote ourselves internationally whilst fixing things at home. Remember Eschel Rhoodie,an Ambassador to Australia. He used to have a weekly column in a mass circulating newspaper here.That's being proactive.Having a PR person assigned to an Embassy might be unorthodox but it will help to kill off the current negative publicity/image. Incidentally the South African Ambassador or High Commissioner here in Australia should make himself/herself avasilable to the speaker circuit and address forums like the National Press Club. They should become more media friendly. A PR person can help

SA did conduct an international PR Campaign and I think it was possitive, today South Africans are alive with possibility. We see the progress, yes there are problems with the electricity and infrastructure but the government is working on it. Every country like every household has its own flaws the difference is that ours are highly publicised because "someone" does not want to see Africa become successful.

All i'm saying is that you need to recognise where we come from as a country and as a continent before you critise us. You need to look at the big picture. And the big picture is that the west financed and are continuing to finance the wars and carnage in this continent, you have people killing people just so that they can survive until tomorrow and that is a shame.

They (the west) know that Africa has the ability to become a superpower and they are not going to allow that not for the next few 100 years.

American children go around killing eachother, it makes the news for 2 days and after that it's old news. Not because we have forgotten but because BUSH does something else that more newsworthy "i suppose it's called spin-doctoring". CNN would rather report on the suspected SA minister being accused of fraud than a crazed American student killing his classmates.

The west owns most of the media and i can see how they will want to tell a sad story of Africa. Why noone will stand on the world stage and say I was in South Africa and there are people there who are using condoms and are not HIV positive and that there are harkworking South Africans who make their money legitimately and are not affected by crime and corruption. So Mr. President, or anyone from the GCIS or the Presidency if you are interested I WILL TELL GOOD STORIES about SA.

And to my fellow South Africans in the continent and the diaspora: Ask not what your continent can do for you - ask what you can do for your continent!!!! Happy African Day!

Do a search on Biz for IMC and Brand South Africa/Brand SA. Eg:

Newspaper congress offers scoop for Brand SA
http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/11/14943.html

IMC’s new Brand South Africa partners
http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/11/13493.html

I'm sure we're all aware of the soccer expression "you only as good as your last game." To aussiejoe i'm glad to hear you played your part in building positive change for the country. I just can't help but believe it had to do more with your job. Adding to that when you left the country you didn't carry on where you left off. We need you now to play PR for us in Australia and tell them what a beautiful country SA is. I'm not that politically inclined but ignorance is not a place i like to visit. It's really not hard to figure that with people like Nthabiseng in this country we're destined for a bright future. For a journalist you really look at things with one eye and i think your views are subjective. But what hurts me the most is that the more you spread these views the more "objective" they become internationally. STOP IT!

I'm PROUD of this country. I'm product of "BANTU EDUCATION." I grew up in the townships raised by a mother who worked as a maid. Today at age 27 I run my own business. I have an office in Rosebank and when I make my millions, believe me I will show it off. THAT'S PR!

I hope you make your millions and in so doing strengthen the ZRand which in 1987 was at parity with the A$ and now something like ZR5-60 vs 1A$. Having said that I must point out that I am not one-eyed.I espouse the beauty of South Africa at every opportunity.I carry a little book in my briefcase which has some wonderful photos of South Africa.I recommend to Aussies going to South Africa to visit the Apartheid Museum near Gold Reef City.This museum should be internationally promoted.Sure you had an international PR campaign.How about following up and intensifying.Brings me back to my original point - employ PR people in the Embassies.Someone said the west own the world media. Well, they don't own Al Jazeera. However, what stops you guys from purchasing the Fairfax Group or purchasing a major share in News Limited. You have Stephen Mulholland on your doorstep.He worked for Fairfax and if you want to invest in international media, he is The Man!!!
Guys think outside the square and look at your trading partners and staff your Embassies accordingly. Look at the potential markets and staff Embassies accordingly. Make those buggers work for their fat cat salaries!

The government has a bucket full of PR`s but they are more like propaganda machinery than PR`s since the more they deny the accusations the more these things happens and therefore the government need to perform like a government and not like an outside of government movement.

For an example expats have pointed out the problems that forced them to leave and the government has not drawn up a list of these problems and started to address them so there is nothing concrete for PR`s to use to sell this country.An example is where one expat says he left because he was tired of being harrassed,intimidated and extorted at kerbs and the government is not looking at this simple problem so attention should be directed to committed emerging governments in the continent and let this myopic ANC eat its humble pie and watch SA collapsing.

Loser don't be over ambitious. This country was collapsing in the hands of the apartheid government. And guess what? We did something about it. That change did not occur over a day. The only thing collapsing here is "your say" since you did not vote for the ANC. But since your ship is sinking, I challenge you to do something about it. The weaker ones have left already, maybe that's an option. As for these experts you keep refering to. Who are they?

Andre, you keep refering to your country, your government, your embasies etc. I really do not think you are coming back to SA. But good riddance, this country does not need that kind of attitude.

Okay, say,we do need PR, here's an idea...since you are looking at it objectively, why don't you write the strategy and send it to Mr. Mbeki or someone in government. I'm in PR maybe I'll help you with your gramma!

Quite frankly, i don't think people like your friend loser.com are worthy of living in this country, and that is all I will say to that LOSER!

@Nthabiseng....it's grammar! But hey I don't want to get personal.Yes, I did submit a few ideas to Mr. Mbeki's office but did not receive a reply. Yes, I would like to return to South Africa but can't get a position commensurate with my experience because I am white.Incidentally South Africa was a prosperous country and not a basket case like Z when it became a true democracy. I am just sick and tired of reading in overseas newspapers -and I travel to ASEAN countries and ME frequently - the following:
* Corruption
* Crime
* AIDS
* infrastructure failure
Mention was made that the government has loads of PR's working for them. How qualified are they? Are they quotas as in cricket and rugby? In Australia we call it Jobs for Pals.
Perhaps someone should review the whole set-up and make it proactive and accountable.
Secondly assign qualified PR people to embassies under the banner of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Contact me should you want a few more PR tools.But please remove that chip from your shoulder. I want South Africa to succeed but I fear for the future. Imagine Zuma as the next President.Any other likely candidates? The only Minister who enjoys respect appears to be Trevor Manuel.

Andre, save your breathe, these guys don't know what they heck they talking about, I think they need their own PR agency to stop making fools of themselves with what they say. Dlamini, you call yourself South African but you don't even know it's economics, SA was doing extremely well before democracy because it was a self-sustained country (go read The J-Curve, get some education). Looking at the economics today, SA IS collapsing, the account deficit is in trouble, we the 2nd/3rd most dangerous country in the world, rapes happen more than smiles.

Yes, I'm in advertising and publicity, yes I'm a proud white, yes I've been overseas, yes I can see how SA is failing and I talk straight. If you have never been out of SA you do not have a proper mental picture of the country, simply because you don't see the change and how dangerous it has been. You've been sitting here and all the crime and errors have creeped up slowly, like water on a rock over years and years then suddenly... oops, where'd everything go? Those that have always been in SA have slowly accepted its "little problems" and are blinded by only seeing what they choose to see. I used to be one of those South African's that objected to people "bad mouthing" the country but when I came back to SA, I saw how it had changed for the worst and how I was so wrong.

I believe SA must not spin their problems and say it's all sunshine and safari's here. When you have the tourists coming over they get attacked, what you going to do then? Try cover it up? Actually they are doing that but it gets exposed sooner or later. The way to fix it is to tackle the problem head on and not just give lip service but the politicians must do what they say (haha) and get rid of crime, HIV education etc. I love this country but with what is happening in it, it's lost. There is no more democracy, it got tossed out the window long ago, this is just window dressing now.

Nthabiseng... you said the worst criminal activity you experienced was in 1986? Where heck you been living? Next to Bin Laden in a cave? Talk the truth mate!
You said 50 "white" policemen threw tear gas at you playing soccer? Shame man... that brings a tear to my eye (excuse the pun). Is that all they did? My fathers been hijacked and beaten at gun point, the rest of my family robbed and threatened with weapons on the streets and in their homes. Friends been shot, raped and murdered... mostly white. And you moaning about tear gas? Do you need me to make your lunch for you? Cut your bread into little triangles? Stop lying mate, you've been touched by crime in some way and you just won't say it because then you'll admit to Andre being right.

A World Bank report mentions that SA's economy will be no more in 1-2 generations time because of HIV AIDS, cutting GNP by half, killing education in the youth. I think it will be a waste land before that because of crime and corruption would've gotten to the countries heart before the sexual desease.

However... nothing to fear Nthabiseng, Dlamini and black co. because tourists are still flocking here, somehow they don't think they will be touched by crime or a rape or two. I'm doing my bit to make sure they stay away, it's a moral thing to do, to protect who I can. A lot have solutions to sort out the problems in the country but because we are white, everything that we say is racist when in the mean time, the only racists that are around are the ones pointing the fingers. As the saying goes, God left Africa long ago. I don't blame the bugger. Wait...wait... it's because he's white right?

Oh and Nthabiseng, Dlamini and black co. don't bother replying back to me and trying to pick me apart, because I know you will, it's your BEE right too, blah blah blah. I won't be reading because I'm busy reshuffling my businesses overseas where the economies are in better shape and do business with humans and not colour codes and racists like yourself.

Racist!!