A message to all the freeloaders

When you hear locals making reference to isilahla, never make the same assumption I made.

In township lingo, isilahla has always meant a coupe convertible car, like a BMW, Mercedes Benz, Audi or Beetle.

I enjoy putting my ear close to the ground to find out what bothers people. And what better place to be than at a station platform or inside a packed Metrorail train, where you meet anyone from preachers to entertainers.

During the golden era of black journalism of the late Doc Bikitsha, Nat Nakasa, Percy Qoboza, Jimmy Matyu, Alf Kumalo and Peter Magubane – to name a few – shebeens were another key source of information.

The other day, while I waited for a metro train from Kempton Park to Park Station, it began to rain heavily.

Like elsewhere in the country, Metrorail trains are never on time due to “technical problems” – an explanation which has enraged commuters. Torching of passenger coaches, stoning and damaging of windows, with some commuters being injured in the process, are some of the incidents that have taken place, without any arrests made.

When our train finally arrived, fellow passengers described it as isilahla because it had no windows: they had been removed by some commuters. Everyone had to endure rain drops blowing in during the hour-long ride.

“Because trains are always late, commuters damage the trains and most travel amangobe,” explained one passenger.

Amangobe is the term used to describe commuters who travel on trains without paying.

Metrorail, which operates the local trains on behalf of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa, has been losing hundreds of thousands due to nonpayment by some commuters.

I bring up the issues of isilahla and amangobe to illustrate a disturbing and endemic culture of destruction that continues to erode our old values of taking responsibility and preserving assets paid by us through taxes.

Recently, Metrorail released CCTV footage of two youngsters believed to be connected to a train fire at the Cape Town station – an incident which took place on November 28.

About R61 million in damage was caused, with 18 carriages being destroyed – another devastating blow to South Africa’s already crippled commuter train service, which has lost 213 coaches worth R643 million to arson attacks since 2014.

If one looks at the growing levels of destructive tendencies within our society, such as theft of copper, destruction of trains, libraries, toilets, bus stations and other assets, which are of huge use to society – we are heading for a disastrous future if nothing is done to reinvigorate society with true values.

This, coupled with police enforcing the rule of law, will certainly go a long way in addressing the disorder we have become accustomed to.

During his testimony to the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, Transnet chair Popo Molefe said a mouthful when making reference to former Mozambican president Samora Machel.

“In the book that I am reading about him, he reminds us that if your blanket has lice, you put it in boiling water, wash it, so that you are able to use it again tomorrow,” Molefe told Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.

Jealously guarding and preserving what is ours is at the core.

Brian Sokutu.

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