Don’t judge. Check yourself. Check your wallet, and then check your privilege

Unfortunately, the privileged and middle class South Africans appeared to have completely forgotten this sad fact on the first day of the lockdown.

A Facebook friend, Karabo Mohale, wrote a heartrending post on Friday under the hashtag #DayOneOfSAlockdown. She wrote: “When you get paid timeously and were part of the ‘panic buyers brigade’ it would be difficult to understand why people are filling up some stores today and most probably Monday and Tuesday as well.”

There are South Africans, particularly in the rural areas and townships, who are going to break the lockdown rules. Their intention is not to be unruly or ungovernable. This is mainly because they too need to buy the basic essentials that those with privilege and deep pockets could buy two weeks ago.

Furthermore, the privileged were panic buying and leaving shelves empty, literally at every supermarket. Those who are seen as law breakers today are the very ones who had to unpack and pack the new stock for the privileged to come back the following days and empty the shelves again.

Also, some get paid fortnightly, while others had to wait for their money to clear on the Friday morning of the first day of lockdown. They don’t have the luxury to fill the whole house with food. They also have to pay black tax from those paltry salaries they get.

But, privileged South Africans, both black and white, middle and upper class, were up in arms calling fellow South Africans irresponsible and stupid. They called them all sorts of names because they were doing what they couldn’t do when the privileged were working from home, and every other hour could leave the house in their big German, Italian, French, Scandinavian or Japanese car to the big supermarkets.

The poorest of the poor, who are ironically part of the essential workers, not only have to get on two to four taxis to get to work, they had transport limitations on Friday to go buy the basics they needed at the nearest supermarkets. They used the little time and money they had to buy what they could to ensure that, in the coming days, they could uphold the rules and regulations of the lockdown.

It is also annoying that we have to remind those who live in glass houses to not throw stones.

The people you saw on TV during the first few days of the lockdown are concerned about their wellbeing, just like you. In our quest to fight the coronavirus and keep up with the laws of the lockdown, let us try to not detach from the reality of the poorest people in the land.

I will conclude by sharing the beautiful words of eNCA anchor Shahan Ramkissoon: “So, before you judge, understand the circumstances of those who cannot afford to save and couldn’t panic buy two weeks ago. In fact they have a right to buy food during this lockdown period. Don’t judge. Check yourself. Check your wallet, and then check your privilege.”

Kabelo Chabalala is the founder and chairperson of the Young Men Movement (YMM), an organisation that focuses on the reconstruction of the socialisation of boys to create a new cohort of men. Email, kabelo03chabalala@gmail.com; Twitter, @KabeloJay; Facebook, Kabelo Chabalala

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