Do we, as South Africans, have a death wish?

The blame game over the Joburg CBD explosion rages, with Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi pointing at gas as a possible culprit, while Egoli Gas denies its underground lines were responsible.

It is important to determine the cause of the blast so that something similar doesn’t happen in future, but we also need to look at the response to the incident.

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Of most concern was the visible lack of control by cops and emergency services over the scene which, given the smell of gas, could have spawned another tragic explosion.

Pedestrians wandered all over the damaged Bree Street, both on Wednesday night and yesterday morning. Eventually, the area was properly cordoned off and quarantined – but the people may have also disturbed evidence vital to the investigation.

The behaviour of these people – who climbed over and under tape barriers and ignored cops and emergency personnel – also begs the question: do we, as South Africans, have a death wish? Or are we so habituated to disobeying any form of regulation that even a disaster scene means nothing to us?

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We need to relook all our disaster procedures… and people need safety education because common sense is not all that common in today’s SA.