Spirit of ubuntu shines through

That the last week has shown us is that South Africans won’t wait for government to fix things that are broken.

A week of looting, chaos and violent protests brought the country to its knees, but the message from the public is clear – enough is enough and we are taking back our streets by getting our hands dirty and working together.

Following widespread carnage, South Africans have united in rebuilding our country – from support and volunteer groups, to soup kitchens being established, to people picking up brooms and clearing the damage, to taxi associations and neighbourhood watches making sure no one puts their communities in danger.

But there’s also only so much the communities can do, which is why it was important President Cyril
Ramaphosa finally entered the fray during an inspection of the hotspots in KwaZulu-Natal yesterday. Ramaphosa said: “We will not allow anyone to hijack our democracy.”

He added: “It’s quite clear that all these incidents of vandalism and looting were instigated. We are after those people. We are going after them, we’ve identified a good number of them. And we will not allow anarchy and mayhem to just unfold in our country.”

Ramaphosa has been criticised for his soft leadership this week. Our intelligence agencies have also rightfully come under attack for their lethargic work.

But Ramaphosa’s statement and the work of these new heroes in each community sends out a clear message that this won’t be tolerated, regardless of who is behind the attacks.

Tomorrow is Mandela Day. Due to a third wave of Covid infections and the recent looting, it has all but slipped under the radar. However, what has emerged from this crisis is that South Africans don’t need a specific day to dig deep and help those in need. It comes from the heart.

The former president would be proud.
As someone said on a volunteer group on social media … “sometimes the most beautiful flowers rise from the ashes”.