We South Africans have a curious habit. When we’re gathered overseas – whether at a braai in London or a coffee shop in Melbourne – our conversations inevitably turn to everything that’s wrong with our homeland. 

We lament load shedding, shake our heads about politics, and swap stories about potholes big enough to swallow a small car.

Yet, in the same breath, we’ll fiercely defend South Africa against any outsider who dares criticise it. And when asked if we’d ever return, many of us admit, with a wistful smile, “One day, maybe. There’s just something about it…”

That “something” – that ineffable quality that keeps South Africa in our hearts no matter where we roam – is what The Lekker Network members around the world have been trying to articulate. 

Through countless conversations with South Africans building lives and careers across six continents, we’ve collected perspectives on what makes Mzansi, despite all its challenges, possibly the most “lekker” country in the world.

The South African Connection

This authenticity of human connection appears consistently in reflections from South Africans abroad. South African interactions have a directness, warmth, and emotional honesty that many find lacking in more reserved cultures.

Our diversity

Few countries contain South Africa’s extraordinary diversity—not just in demographics but also in landscapes, languages, cuisines, and perspectives. This diversity, while sometimes a source of tension, creates a cultural richness that many South Africans only fully appreciate once they’ve left.

This diversity extends beyond people to places. Where else can you experience world-class urban centres, ancient deserts, subtropical beaches, and majestic mountains – all within a few hours’ drive? The South African landscape itself seems to embody possibility.

The liberation of lowered expectations

There’s a curious freedom that comes from living in a country where systems don’t always work perfectly – a freedom to improvise, to make plans, to find solutions where none seem obvious.

This isn’t to romanticise dysfunction but to recognise the creative and psychological flexibility that develops when perfection isn’t expected. South Africans learn early that there’s always a way through, around, or over an obstacle – creating a pragmatic optimism that many carry globally.

Finding joy in the ordinary

Perhaps most distinctively, South Africa teaches its people to find extraordinary joy in ordinary moments – a skill increasingly rare in achievement-obsessed cultures elsewhere.

This capacity for joy—sometimes despite challenging circumstances—creates a quality of aliveness that many South Africans miss acutely when they leave. Life elsewhere may be more convenient and predictable, but rarely does it match the intensity of living in South Africa.

The South African Spirit of Possibility

Underlying all these qualities is perhaps South Africa’s most defining characteristic – a spirit of possibility that has survived despite historical wounds and present challenges.

While this uncertainty can be exhausting, it also creates a society where innovation thrives, people dare to imagine different futures, and transformation—personal and social—seems perpetually possible.

Is South Africa perfect? Not by any measure. The challenges are real and significant and shouldn’t be minimised. But through The Lekker Network’s conversations with South Africans worldwide, a fascinating consensus emerges: there’s something uniquely valuable about the South African experience that equips its people with perspectives, skills, and outlooks that serve them powerfully wherever they go.

Perhaps that’s why, no matter how long we’ve been away, South Africa is never just where we’re from – it’s a part of who we are. And in that sense, it might just be the most “lekker” country in the world after all.