Foreigners Who Love South Africa with their Heart and Soul…

There’s something so exquisitely special about South Africa that creeps into your soul…and never leaves. We all know it. Those South Africans who can never tear themselves away because their roots run too deep. Those expats who have left but who see visions of ‘home’ wherever they look – in potholes, tea stains and the shape of their puppy’s paw.

But there are other people who feel the beat of South Africa in their heart and soul. People who were not born here. Some who have never even set foot in the country!

This week Abir Naskar Suvo Baban sent SAPeople the photo above, revealing: “I have never been to your great land. I’m from India. But when I hear South Africa or Springbok, my heart also beats like normal South African…”

Ziggi Ward from London lived in Cape Town for a couple of years 20 years ago (and only left because she couldn’t renew her visa). She still seeks out South African food and accents like a sniffer dog.

SAPeople contributor Sine Thieme (@JoburgExpat), continues to write passionately about her family’s special three years in Johannesburg, and has become such an ‘honorary South African’ you’ll find her stationed around the braai at SA reunion parties back home in the USA.

Even her children have become honorary South Africans. “Our kids are German-American, born in the US to German parents,” she says. “After we returned to the US, my youngest daughter wanted to know what she was. We explained that she had both passports but that in her heart she probably felt more American, because that’s where she was born and where she lived most of her life. In response, she looked at us and said: ‘In my heart I’ll always be South African.'”

There’s a Middle Eastern taxi driver in Sydney who says there’s only one place he ever felt at home – South Africa. When he talks about the years he worked in Durban he gets quite tearful. It’s in his blood, he says.

Alex Kuier lived in SA for six years, before she was forced to move back to Switzerland last year because she couldn’t renew her visa. She calls herself a “proudly wanna-be South African” and is on a quest to source SA food, spots SA products when she goes on holiday, listens to 702 on the internet, and wraps our flag around herself when she holidays around her own home country!

“It’s good to continue South African traditions in Switzerland,” she says. “I love internet radio!”

Jean Walmsley, from the UK, wrote on an SAPeople post: “My hubby is from Port Elizabeth, and he took me over in 2007. I fell so in love with South Africa that this is the only place on the planet that I want to live.

“If I could get my book of life I would happily become South African. Always in my heart. Thank you South Africa for letting me experience your beautiful country, even if it was only for a short while.”

American Allen Jay Burton follows Trevor Noah and SA news as if it’s his own, bakes South African rusks (after asking SAPeople followers for a rusk recipe) and orders biltong and boerewors to share with his friends… although he’s never visited SA.

Rosie Garcia left the following comment on a recent article ‘4 Reasons Why I Can’t Leave South Africa‘: “Being Cuban/American I moved to South Africa four years ago with my SA partner.

“I’ve lived in the US the better part of my life and after visiting SA it started to feel like I was leaving home every time I left. We’ve struggled financially and used up all my life savings trying to make a life in SA.

“I’ve been back in the US for a year working to keep paying for our home and responsibilities in SA. The thought of having to leave SA deeply hurts my soul.

“I truly feel my spirit is full when I’m in South Africa…”

“I’m very proud of my Cuban/Spanish heritage but I truly feel my spirit is full when I’m in South Africa… and just like I get a knot in my throat and my eyes well up when I hear ‘my Cuban’ national anthem, I get the same feeling when I hear South Africa’s beautiful multi-lingual Nkosi sikeleli (and yes I try to sing along).

“I love the US because it gave me opportunities that my parents, as refugees, gave to me and my sis. I will forever be grateful for their sacrifices, and to this nation… but in my heart South Africa is home.

“So yes, I’m still trying to figure out a way to make it happen there… Keep fighting for SA – she is worth it!”