Don’t let protests become the norm

It is food for thought that last year, public protests reached the highest level since the end of apartheid in 1994.

That can be a positive thing, because ordinary citizens feel they can come together, make their point and force changes. The negatives are that the protests disrupt the lives of others and see injuries and even deaths – not to mention the picture they paint of a country on the verge of falling apart.

One of the reasons for the explosion of dissent has not been, interestingly, the advent of social media. It is the mainstream media – and particularly the SABC (which has put many of the protests on prime time TV) – which has been an important vector for the spread of anger. This phenomenon has been aided in no small measure by the fact the ANC government is twitchy when cameras are about, so ministers and senior people rush to unrest scenes for the required sound bites.

People all over the country have seen that the best way to get the ANC to pay attention is to put up roadblocks and burn tyres.

The problem is that once people have developed a taste for protest, it quickly becomes the norm.

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