I was recently quite dismayed to see that South African’s are not rated as being very friendly by visitors to our fair shores. (See: Here’s a Shocker – We thought the perception of South Africans was one of a friendly people).
Well, one MyPE reader took the findings to heart and embarked on a quest to ascertain whether we in Port Elizabeth and the Eastern Cape considered ourselves as friendly people.
Adopting the highly sophisticated technique of allowing the phone book to fall open at a random page, closing her eyes and placing her finger on a name, Amanda from Willow Cottage in Richmondhill, then phoned that number and asked the person answering the phone if he/she thought we South African’s are friendly people.
Amanda says that the majority of the people that she spoke to initially burst out laughing and then indicated absolutely YES that South Africans, in a regional context, are friendly, hospitable and extremely helpful.
“We Port Elizabethans are friendly, no doubt about it, and all the unhappy international tourists should visit us, so we can prove them wrong!” concluded Amanda.
My own personal experience has been that the larger the city, the unfriendlier the people are to strangers. Here in Port Elizabeth each one of us is personally acquainted with fellow citizens who think nothing of inviting a stranger for a meal or transporting strangers and tourists across town just for the joy of doing so.
Tell us in the comments section below which is the most friendly province/city/town/suburb in South Africa.
