Norms in SA are not normal

We survived the pandemic, now what?

Everywhere it is back to normal, back to reality. Two years ago the world as we knew it came to an end… or that’s what we thought. At the time, President Cyril Ramaphosa had us on the edges of our seats as he told us how
our realities would change. All hell broke loose when South Africans followed international trends by panic buying
and leaving food shelves empty.

We were told to go home and stay home until further notice. We were told when we could exercise and when we could shop, what we could buy and not buy. We are still waiting to hear how being forced to quit smoking helped curb the spread of the virus. The next 24 months became the sequel of a modern-day Jumanji with challenging obstacles at every roll of the dice.

We were on a runaway roller coaster ride that raced up and down waves of infections and lockdown levels. At some point, we were living in what felt like a mathematical equation, with lockdown level four plus stage 2 load shedding, minus the third wave of infections. Finally, it seemed the finish line was in sight following Ramaphosa’s last family address and the full return to school and work.

ALSO READ: Corruption is everywhere, and affects everyone

At last, the spread of the deadly virus was under control, which allowed many restrictions to be lifted. The good news about schools reopening at full capacity and employees in all sectors returning to work is that it would be safe to say the first signs of heading back to normal were in sight.

But what is normal? According to the dictionary, normal means conforming to a standard; usual, typical, or expected. Suddenly, the bars were full and the Monday morning peak time traffic was back. A lot has happened since the initial lockdown. A lot of people lost jobs, homes and loved ones. South Africans have endured a lot of trauma and overcome a lot of hardships besides the pandemic.

With another roll of the dice awaits another obstacle in our modern-day Jumanji game. Just as we thought we had overcome the virus, many more viruses were waiting for us, corruption, crime, state capture. An aerial view of South Africa resembled a disco ball with power being switched on and off after the implementation of load shedding in 2008.

ALSO READ: Survey ranks South Africa the 70th most corrupt country

Next came the water shortages and water cuts. But not everything in South Africa was down. Fuel prices, food prices, tuition fees and the cost of everyday living went up. These are our norms – power and water cuts, corruption and crime. Where is it the norm for politicians to get caught with their fingers in the pie of corruption and remain in leadership?

Where is it the norm to pay inflated prices for services such as water and electricity while not having water or power for days on end?

Where is it the norm for crimes to be committed by those meant to protect society? In South Africa, these are the norms because there is no such thing as normal.