This paper offers an impressionistic account of aspects of South African life and of some consultation work undertaken by a child psychotherapist currently working in Johannesburg. An important underlying question is whether psychoanalytically informed thinking and practice matches the South African milieu. The question cannot be fully addressed within the scope of this paper, but some thoughts are offered in the hope of stimulating thought and debate. The paper commences with a brief overview of the wider South African scene which so critically determines the problems clinicians encounter in individual and in community work