Moral compass has gone haywire

Yet again, we have the spectacle of a minority group holding others hostage through an illegal, criminal and sometimes violent, protest action.

This time, taxi drivers brought the City of Tshwane to a standstill by blockading roads, demanding an end of traffic fines and an end to police officials soliciting bribes.

We sympathise with them on one thing: That the culture of bribery is threatening to destroy our country. And, by the taxi protesters’ account, Tshwane’s police spend more time earning extra money than on law enforcement.

But we cannot entertain their “we are too poor to pay fines” plea. Too poor? How about not breaking the law then, and saving your money?

This may be a taxi protest in one city, but the sentiments expressed have a worrying resonance around the country where everybody, from the president down, seems to want to duck responsibility for their actions.

Our municipalities, for example, are owed billions of rands in power charges because millions of our people believe they are too poor to pay and so keep stealing electricity.

Finally, the latest taxi protest shows that our default mode of expressing our discontent is in the streets, and with violence. What has happened to our moral compass?