Ok, Finland and Canada, you might have snow and even reindeer – but when it comes to Christmas, I’d make a strong case that South Africa is the underdog winner.
Up there in the north you’ve got your specific times of year for Christmas and Hanukkah, for the new school year and the long summer vacation. Well, here in South Africa, when December comes round the whole lot gets rolled into one.
The stores put up decorations and play carols. It also gets really hot. If you look very closely, you may even catch a colleague wearing shorts to work.
Things start properly with South Africa’s Day of Reconciliation on December 16, a public day of commemoration that marks the end of apartheid. By then, many people have already switched on their out-of-office notifications and switched off the most productive parts of their brains.
Kids come home from school for the summer vacation, with a bit of gingerbread housebuilding and tree decorating thrown in. Everyone seems to be in a good mood. Even courts go into recess and the construction sites all close down.
Shutting most of the country down to take a break is such an institution that there is, of course, a slang term for it: Ke Dezemba boss, strictly speaking, translates to “it’s December, boss” in isiZulu. Its true meaning encompasses South Africans’ wholehearted commitment to checking out for as much of the month as they can manage.
It seems like a perfect time, when problems are put on hold and joy abounds. Though of course Dezemba is inevitably followed by Janu-worry, where the credit card bills catch up on you like a bad New Year’s hangover.
The cynic in me wonders whether the enthusiasm with which South Africans celebrate this month is a symptom of a larger problem. Are we so weighed down by societal comparison and inequity that this is our one big release of indulgence, which inevitably comes with excess and loading up the credit cards? Is our corporate system overworking people so much that the entire population feels they need to run away for almost a whole month?
Maybe it’s all a sign of a country that is often burdened by crime, inequality and corruption, just wanting everything to be fun for a while.
Thankfully, it would be rather un-South African of me to let the cynic win. After all, our signature characteristic is the ability to find joy and humour in the toughest of circumstances – it’s my favourite thing of all about my oddball country.
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I think of how it’s a tradition to have a drink in the pool on Christmas Day, and barbecue prawns under the stars on New Year’s Eve. How beaches are packed on New Year’s Day with everybody and their aunt’s umbrella. How the Ke Dezemba generosity extends to how you tip the waiter and talk to someone guarding your car.
I think of these things, and I return to the cheesy line that says: “December in South Africa isn’t a month, it’s a lifestyle!” It’s a total cliche, but there is something real to it and something worthwhile – not just an excuse to have a big party, but maybe a time when everyone tries to be a bit kinder.
While the problems may be heavy all year round, the joy and silliness of a whole country going on leave, if only in their minds, is very South African. We may not have a snowy, cold Christmas like everyone up north, but man, do we know how to celebrate!
Elna Schütz is a Johannesburg-based freelance journalist working in audio and writing
