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I have watched with astonishment the developments in Cape
Town regarding the protestations against the bucket toilet system. A couple of things about the situation have
got me wondering about the true state of South African society. Perhaps it would be fitting to explain
exactly what transpired for those whom, for whatever reason, might not be aware
of said developments. Initially, a group
of protestors threw bags of human faeces at the entrance steps of the Western
Cape legislature. This was followed, a
few days later, by the spilling of contents of full buckets from the bucket
toilet system being used in many Western Cape ghettos, onto a bus that Western
Cape premier Helen Zille was travelling on.
At this point we cannot be sure if the same group or another did this.
All this excrement throwing simply because people don't have flushing toilets.
What I want to address is the unfortunate manner in which
our people have chosen to vent their frustrations of late. It can be seen in the way people rob and loot
when protesting for better service delivery or against merging municipalities,
it can be seen the unprotected strikes that have run riot in our mining and
other sectors. This for me is a problem.
I wonder, when those protestors decided the best way to
ensure they get flushing toilets in their neighbourhoods, did it not cross
their minds that the very people they are trying to protect are the same people
who would be left cleaning up the mess?
For me, this is no different to the debacle at the University of the
Free State, perhaps even worse. Worse
because, in this instance not only would the black cleaners be left to do the
demeaning work of cleaning human excrement, but that cleaning would happen
because of those they are like, other black people. You see, the young white boys who behaved in
such an arrogant and insulting manner can be excused because they are outside
of our communities. They have not an
inkling of the suffering of our mothers.
Mothers who have to be up at ungodly hours, travelling long distances,
leaving their own children behind, to go care for and tend to the very same
spoilt and racist white children. The
youth in Cape Town however, know very well the struggles of the average worker
from the ghetto. Indeed their actions
can be construed as counter revolutionary!
Place that aside and I wonder how they feel the behaviour
made them look, not to white folk, but to other black folk. And by black folk, I’m not talking to that
bourgeoisie, upper-middle class, African who no longer has any connection with
the average man on the street. I am in
fact speaking to that very average black man on the street. Such behaviour is unbecoming of the black man
I envisage when I think of Black Consciousness.
A black man with the ability to reason, debate, discuss and be
innovative. What does a child throwing their toys out their cot look like?
Similarly, those protestations wherein people loot and
destroy property, is nonsensical, more so because, it is their own communities
that they rob and steal from. It is
their families whose cars are stoned, whose roads are burnt and whose
businesses are brought to naught. And
again, it is their own kind who will be left to clean up the mess left behind.
Take for instance events that unfolded in Zamdela at the
beginning of the year. Zamdela is a
township in the Free State that falls under the town of Sasolburg. In January of this year residents protested
against the proposed merger of Metsimaholo and Ngwathe municipalities. During the protest action; a liquor store,
Zio Cash & Carry, was robbed of stock and property to the tune of
approximately two million rand, journalists were attacked and beaten, a house
was set alight, petrol stations were looted, automatic teller machines were
robbed, etc. I fail to see how these
actions will prevent a merger of municipalities.
Someone needs to
explain to our people that destroying what little infrastructure you currently
have, does not help with anything but setting you back many miles. This is my logic, we want roads, running
water, electricity, refuse collection, houses, employment, but how do we expect
to reach these goals by destroying what we already have. This for me shows a lack in self-pride for
all that exists in the ghettos of South Africa was built and maintained by
us. This, we should be very proud of. With no help from government or from white
capital, we have managed to grow ourselves, lest we begin to destroy what we
have worked so diligently to achieve.
With all that being
said, it is vital that our current leaders see this behaviour for what it is, a
cry for help, a manifestation of frustrations by the masses. Indeed it was Steven Friedman who said that
this democracy that we are so proud of, is still in the hands of and controlled
by the white middle class. It’s simple,
they have access to telephones, cell phones with airtime, internet, email,
cars, a firm grasp of the language of politics and law and most importantly,
time; privileges the average Langa or Diepsloot resident does not have. So it goes without saying that if the people
have no way of being heard or in fact, if the people feel their grievances are
not taken seriously, like they are being undermined, they will resort to
actions that leave us soiled in heart
and mind. They will resort to extreme
actions because of their extreme circumstances that require extremely
expeditious resolutions.
A question that I have not managed to explore in this paper
is what role the culture of making the state ungovernable plays in these
instances? A culture that dates back to
the days of “struggle” during the early nineteen eighties when the United
Democratic Front (UDF) localised the fight against apartheid. It was a move from violent to nonviolent resistance
that encouraged average people to address the specific problems that apartheid
posed to their particular communities.
Perhaps these protests that are flaring up around the country a remnants
of exactly that. Perhaps…
In the mean time, I urge my people to behave like the kings
and queens of ancient times, remember their place in the evolution of mankind,
be conscious of their blackness and what it means to be thus and most
importantly, treat one another with love and respect. Cheesy, I know, but true.
Thabiso Nkoana©14.June.2013
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