Green Shoots: A toast to connection, not excess

The city of Durban on the east coast of South Africa has a great slogan over this holiday season: ‘Durban – the warmest place to be’. I’ve spent a few days at a work engagement at a hotel on the beachfront, and "warm" is a misnomer – it’s as hot as hell, and humid.

Give me Joburg’s dry Highveld air any day. South Africans migrate each December from the big inland cities to the coast, and the country’s pre-eminent holiday city is celebrating a very successful festive season. The mayor announced that over 1.2 million people visited Durban over the Christmas holiday period and spent over R2.4 billion for a much-needed boost to the local economy. This is a five-year high. Very nice.

During my stay, our local colleagues spoke proudly of the good things their home town has to offer. From creative arts and music experiences to some of the best beaches in the world, there are moments when it feels like you’re looking at a movie set. And on New Year’s Day, you can’t see the sand for the mass of humanity that takes to the beaches. Even now, at the tail end of the season, holidaymakers from as far afield as Swaziland and Limpopo province make finding a breakfast table as hard as finding a spot to pitch your beach picnic blanket. 

The promenade that runs for kilometres is a great place to run, but you do need to keep your wits about you to avoid colliding with cyclists and other early morning enthusiasts. 

This has been a business visit, but it offered an opportunity to connect with dear friends and family. My soul has been nurtured by these all-too-brief visits, but it reminds me of what this season means for South Africans. Beyond the religious importance of Christmas, the festive season heralds a time when we ‘go home’ to the places in which we grew up, to the land where many of us can reconnect with our roots. We connect again with those friends and family members who didn’t migrate to the big smoke of Joburg or the mining towns inland in search of fame or fortune. It’s a couple of weeks of hearty feasting, of eating too much meat, and drinking too much alcohol. But mostly, it's about spending time nurturing the connections that will sustain us until the next gathering, whenever that may be. 

It is quite something living in a country like this. The natural beauty is breathtaking, and it is celebrated by thousands of visitors. In Durban it’s all about sun, sand and surf. But like so much in our lives, the good coexists with the not-so-good. We need to learn how to celebrate a little differently.

Too many people die in motor vehicle accidents during the migration because we drive really badly. And did I say we drink too much? Liquor sales soar at this time, and while this might lubricate our party vibes, it also brings out the ills and negative outcomes that accompany substance abuse. I’m the last person to advocate for a dry holiday season, but I am saying that we need to change our attitudes towards each other.

A little more consideration and respect for other road users might delay our arrival at our holiday destination by a few minutes, but it will make our roads safer. Moderating our consumption, I’m sure, will reduce incidence of conflict and violence, particularly of men abusing women.

These moments of connection and renewal are important and help us remain resilient in the face of the challenges of surviving in today’s fast-paced world. I hope you all had a chance to replenish your cups.