Bonnie Mbuli opens up about life in the US and why she often finds herself missing South Africa.
Image: Instagram.
“No one is going to love you like South Africans. If you have not been loved by South Africans yet, do something,” says actress and media personality Bonnie Mbuli.
Mbuli grew up in Soweto and has built a career that took her from local television to international productions.
She later relocated to the United States around 2014 with her then husband as they pursued opportunities abroad, spending years between South Africa and life overseas.
But it is her recent reflections on home that are resonating widely.
Mbuli speaks about South African love as something you only truly understand when you are away from it.
It is not always big or dramatic, but it shows up in everyday moments, the quick chats with strangers, the humour in passing and the sense that people treat you like you belong even if they do not know you.
She adds that this kind of connection only becomes clear with distance.
“If you don’t even know what it means to have a place like South Africa, then you need to do what I did, leave and then come back,” she says.
Because as South Africans, we often only recognise what we had when we step away from it. We chase 'greener pastures, new cities, new opportunities, new versions of ourselves.
We adjust, we adapt and we convince ourselves that distance means growth, but somewhere along the way, we start to notice what is missing.
It is that feeling Mbuli touches on as she reflects on life abroad and how distance has shaped her perspective.
“South Africa is possibly the best place in the world to live. Before I came home to visit these past couple of weeks, I hadn’t been home for the past three years, which has been really challenging,” she explains.
“But now that I am back in the US, I am more homesick than I was before.”
And maybe that is the thing. South Africa is not perfect, and neither are we. But there is something about the way people here love, survive and show up for each other that sticks with you, even when you leave.
“South Africans are so resilient. We’ve died so many deaths as a nation and I really believe that every time we come back, we come back more beautiful and strong than before. South Africa is vital to the world and to humanity," she concludes.