When the president sniggers, we snarl

Motoring to mountain goat country, one of our favourite pit stops is a picturesque and pristine town. Friendly folk, cosy coffee and curio shops and quaint eateries.

An ideal place to take a break from umpteen road stoppages and terror trucks.

Until recently, that is.

The town joined the queue of protesters, this time evidently motivated by some emotive local council issue. And not unlike other protests, this one was coupled with violence and vandalism, rendering the town out of bounds to visitors– an ideal showing for tourists seeking ghost towns.

We were advised to put the trip on hold, but a journo’s curiosity persuaded us to set off.

Luckily the worst of the event was over by the time we passed through, but what greeted us on the strip of highway adjacent to the town was enough of a shock.

The smell was the first clue nasty things had taken place. Burntout tyres lined the street blackened with dust. Strewn rocks and stones added evidence of a community gone berserk. Shop fronts where smashed and pilfering rife.

So, no customers, no income.

And just another topic of conversation among tourists in passing buses. However, to law-abiding citizens these disgusting incidents are cause for concern. And for serious introspection.

What are the causes behind this tendency to not only protest, but to do it with an intensity that defies normality? And the criminal intent and killer instinct are always present. Why?

Is it low wages? Is it the lack of service delivery from inept and corrupt municipalities? Are these enough reasons to turn usually placid folk into performing acts of barbarism?

Taking to the streets with the intention of vandalising and stealing they’re compounding the problem. Don’t they realise setting fire to trucks, schools and trains, they’re destroying the very assets that allow them jobs?

But I reckon this untoward behaviour is symptomatic of corrupt governance and a weak, giggling president who couldn’t care a fig. His only answer: a sneering, scornful, demeaning laugh.

But he hasn’t realised the proverbial worm is turning – and fast, in the form of a gatvol, protesting citizenry.

Cliff Buchler.