“I’ll Be Going Back Every Single Year”: UK Man Gives His Honest Reality of Living in SA

• A UK-based content creator who has visited South Africa 11 times shared a video pushing back against the negative narrative surrounding SA
• He compared South Africa to 35 other countries he has visited and said the people there are the friendliest
• South Africans flooded the comments with pride, gratitude and a few gentle reminders about everything else the country has going for it

A UK content creator who has been to South Africa more times than most locals have left the country had Mzansi feeling seen. Max Jeffery, who goes by @maxjefferytalks shared his honest take on the country on 5 March 2026 from his living room in the UK. He said he wanted to share the truth about South Africa after watching international media continue to paint a picture of a country in complete chaos.

Max has visited South Africa 11 times and has travelled to 35 countries in total. He said that in some of those countries, including Morocco, he was met with hostility as a white English man. In South Africa, he said it was the complete opposite every single time. He acknowledged that the country has real challenges and that division does exist in certain areas, but said that places like Cape Town and Camps Bay are among the least divided places he has ever been.

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He also spoke about the culture of greeting strangers, saying that in South Africa you can give someone a nod or say hello on the street and it is completely normal. In the UK, he said, doing that makes you seem strange. He called that a very sad way to live. He credited this warmth to what South Africans call Ubuntu, the widely held belief in shared humanity and community. He ended by saying he plans to return every single year until he eventually moves there permanently.

Watch the Facebook reel below:

Mzansi praises UK man's take on living in SA

South Africans were deeply touched by the video and had plenty to say about Facebook user @maxjefferytalks's opinion:

@Adéle Malan wrote:

"Thank you. It is called Ubuntu. South Africa is frequently ranked as the world's friendliest country due to its Ubuntu culture of hospitality and warm, welcoming residents, and we all love to braai."

@Marlene Dilger said:

"Well said. We're staying 🇿🇦 We know what they don't. You forgot to mention we are world champions in loads of sport."

@Louis Jonkers added:

"I have lived here my whole life and always taken my country's uniqueness for granted, until you are faced with media comments like the Trump spectacle about farmer genocide. Only then do you realise how extraordinary the country and its people really are."

@Charlie Dlamini wrote:

"Thank you sir. You just defined South Africa in three minutes better than I could have in thirty."

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@Franco Meyer invited:

"You should visit us in Kimberley. You'll have the best braai, eat steak straight from the fire, and try the braaibroodjie. Very nice, awesomeness."

More on foreigners experiencing SA

• Briefly News recently reported on a UK tourist who tried Nando's in South Africa for the first time.
• A British-American content creator returned home to Alabama after a week in South Africa and admitted he was experiencing serious withdrawals.
• A South African woman in the US got friends from five countries to try malva pudding on camera, and the reactions from each guest made Mzansi feel like the country deserves all its flowers.

Source: Briefly News