When I first moved to South Africa six years ago, I was given some rather daunting advice by a fellow journalist for the state broadcaster, SABC.

As we waited for a press conference to start, she informed me that because I was white, black South Africans would hate me; because I was English, the Afrikaners would hate me; and because I was female and a journalist, the politicians and functionaries of the ruling African National Congress would hate me.

Thankfully, her prediction has turned out to be largely pessimistic. If black South Africans or Afrikaners hate me, they hide it well. It’s true that ANC politicians and functionaries aren’t enamoured, but I think it’s probably because I’m a foreign journalist and write articles highlighting corrupt and crony governance, and the national embarrassment their chosen President Jacob Zuma has become.

This week, the President prompted howls of outrage when he told a group of female journalists – as his wife, Tobeka Madiba Zuma, and young daughter stood by – that because he lived in a “white man’s society”, he could not compliment them as he might wish to.