The Spirit of 'Mateship'

Today I celebrate my 50th day in Australia since arriving on its eastern shores on December 22, 2010. Last year during the June/July holidays, I've spent an additional 37 days to my time Down Under.

One of the most interesting words I have learned (one that most of you in South Africa have heard many times before) during this period is the word 'Mate' In Afrikaans, we also use the word 'Maat',which mean exactly the same. It simply means 'friend; pal; 'pare'(to my philipino friends) or 'tjommie' ( for my Cape Town friends).

What I've found even more interesting is not only the word being used all over Australia, but how it is being used. The word mate is being used by almost everyone and to almost everyone. The guy who works in the garden is your mate. The guy walking down the path in the park is your mate. The local Pastor calls me mate. A few weeks ago I went to the dentist and even he told me,'Mate, you can relax.'

What am I getting at? Why am I so interested and fascinated by this? Let me tell you why. If you refer to someone as your 'mate', you would not steal from him/ her.You would not want to cause pain or hurt to him/her.You would support him/ her no matter what and would see how you could be of help to that person, no matter the colour of his skin, the type of career he/ she is in, where he/ she lives or what his/ her background is.

And that is exactly what I have seen here this far. The 'Spirit of Mateship' that is evident in every street, shopping mall or public place cause people to live free. Free from crime (Im not saying that crime is absent,but it sure is very low).Free from prejudices(of course there are still a few mates who have issues with themselves and others).Free from racism. The 'Spirit of Mateship' is what impress me the most of Australia.

In South Africa, there is something called Ubuntu(simply meaning walking in someone elses shoes and understand what he/she is going through).Unfortunately, having lived there for 30 years, I have seen Ubuntu still being limited. If South Africans will start calling each other 'Mates' or friends or anything else that will bring the nation together, things will definately change for the better. Customer service,etc will be influenced and definately get better. You won't judge your mate for the colour of his skin or the type of job he/ she does.Nor will you look down on him/ her based on who she is where he lives. You will have a 'Spirit of Mateship'.Something much needed for any country who have a vision of seeing her nation as one. Only then will people realise that they are not just Xhosa or Afrikaans, Sotho or Ndebele,but they are SOUTH AFRICANS, and they are MATES.