A VIEW OF THE WEEK: Preparing for departure, SA. Have you packed your bags?

Whether it’s from the Vaal area, the GNU, or SA itself, there are a lot of offers on the table for evacuation.

As with most things this year, US President Donald Trump started it.

His “concern” for the welfare of white farmers in SA led to an offer to evacuate those “victims of unjust racial discrimination” in the country.

While many said they would prefer to stay, others have already packed their bags, are selling up, or are looking into the idea.

The big freeze and storm to come

Trump has also caused forced evacuations in SA because of his freeze on aid funding at the start of the year. The freeze later became permanent. It wrecked many financially and put a lot more lives at risk as the vulnerable struggle to get the help, medicine, or support they need.

That was just the first rain of economic ruin and social disruption, which will likely play out when the full effects of Trump’s updated tariffs hit.

Dozens of towns and hundreds of companies rely on US trade with SA to sustain them.

If it becomes too costly to do business and a saviour from the East doesn’t come to save the day, the fear is that these companies may fold. Evacuating the building will be thousands of jobs and likely a whole community’s economy.

Like with the US aid shut down a few months ago, the government will likely have to step in and assist in “cushioning” the impact. But as anyone who has since stood in the ever-growing line for the clinic can attest, this is only a wonky and often ineffective band-aid. It is not the solution to the problem.

The economic collapse of these towns will add thousands of people to the 16.5 million, or nearly 42%, who are unemployed or economically inactive.

Where do these people go? What do they do?

While some may pack their bags and leave the place they once called home, others may tragically turn to crime to put food on the table, adding to the social decay and hopelessness.

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The storm has come; time to evacuate?

It’s the sign of the rain that was not heeded that led to the storm we thought we could weather.

Those rainstorms brought much-needed relief for those downstream from the Vaal when it was feared the Dam might run empty.

Now, a few months later, and this week these same people have been asked to evacuate their homes amid potential flooding.

While some are not taking the risk and packing their Hilux to the brim with things for their temporary relocation, others have chosen to stay put. They want to see the storm on their horizon before they move.

A flood of water and crime incoming?

A few are worried about leaving their possessions, and in a crime-riddled country, there is a concern that what the floods don’t take, others might.

Criminals thrive in chaos. They hit during load shedding, maintenance outages, and even when you have just had an accident.

Relief? From what government?

Government will also be called on to offer relief to these communities.

It is a big task, and a miracle balancing act is needed to attend to these and the many other crises already engulfing SA.

They are spread thin and need help. Instead, SA and ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa has waved away business concerns over his government’s crumbling national unity (GNU).

He is right that businesses cannot dictate politics and that their interests should not overshadow citizens, but he forgets that this government needs help from the private sector daily just to keep the lights on and avoid a total collapse of SA.

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It is a marriage of his party’s own making due to their failure to govern, and it is not one he can easily evacuate himself from.

Navigating such disasters requires a caring, attentive, and collaborative government, but instead, a circus of clowns is fighting for the spotlight.

Their jockeying for position drowns out the cries for help.

While they play silly games over the budget and its hotly contested value-added tax (VAT) increase, the rest of us wait to be punished by the storms that wait at the door.

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