We had a hopeful start to the year, with the Rand strengthening against the Dollar, which saw the price of fuel drop.
And then, with the hope, came the bad and the ugly.
There was the ugly, namely the incident at the East Rand Mall where EFF protesters ransacked the Swedish clothing store H&M.
The incident drew a lot of comment – both criticism and even praise. The EFF was reacting to an apparent racial advert posted by H&M.
Yes, we all agree, racism has no more place in this country, but then again, we can find racism in anything. It just depends on our point of view and how hell bend we are on turning anything and everything into a racist rant.
Similarly, you can find the devil behind every bush, but sometimes what lurks in the shadows is not a monster but only your imagination and your selfish perceptions kicking into overdrive.
We at times forget that referring to a child as a monkey is not always racist, but refers more to their manner of activity and busyness.
As soon as the EFF decided the best course of action is not diplomacy or litigation, but outright violence, then the DA also jumped on the bandwagon trying to upstage the EFF.
And so an advert, which apparently portrays racism, soon turned into a political game where the EFF and the DA were flexing their muscles. Was this then really about taking a stand against racism or was this merely politics, thus winning favour with the masses?
Either way, the DA took the route of approaching the international chamber of commerce to lodge a complaint, while of course the EFF stormed malls and put lives in danger.
What is disturbing is how again we resort to violent protests to make our voice known. We forget that H&M hires thousands of workers and if they shut their doors we sit with even greater unemployment.
Of course, the implications of such a protest were never really considered. It is the same lack of logical consideration when it comes to land expropriation, which boils down to the production of food for the SA population.
One also doesn’t quite understand how no one was even arrested during all these raids. One video that emerged shows an EFF member taking a long time to ransack the shop. Yet no officer was on the scene to make an arrest.
What we learned from the entire ordeal is that racism is still a thorny issue, and secondly, if you commit a criminal act in the name of politics, nothing will happen.
Another ugly is what happened at Overvaal Hoërskool in Vereeniging, where violent protests by the EFF and the ANC broke out over the school not accepting the 55 learners who needed to be placed.
Disturbing is that the court backed the school, so once again we find violence being used to sort out a situation. Even worse, this time the protest was also directed therefore at the court.
The real culprit is neither the court nor the school, but the department of education that failed to place around 29 000 learners by the time of the academic year kicking in.
The bad in the mix of the ugly is the brothers who burned to death in their shack, the little dog that was shot in his yard, and also the puppies that were left to survive under deplorable conditions.
Yes, all this happened right here in Boksburg, where it seems someone has no problem shooting someone’s lovable pet. Yes, dogs do bark and dogs do make a noise, but this is life and so live with it.
Violence solves nothing, even though the EFF thinks otherwise.
And how many times are we still going to write about how animals are treated like absolute dirt? If you cannot take care of them, then take them to the SPCA, but don’t leave them starving, thirsty or living in their own defecation.
Oh yes, there is also the other bad regarding the woman who was dragged from the street to be raped, and also the woman who shot her boyfriend.
So we have the good, but now we are already facing the bad and the ugly. It is going to be a bumpy ride once again.
