The spirit of Ubuntu will triumph as SA rebuilds

South Africans are a hardy bunch.

No matter what challenges life throws at our people – and there have been a lot – we bounce back.
We are not saying life is a bed of roses, but not even load shedding, deeply rooted corruption, unemployment, potholes and crime is able to keep South Africans down for too long before they counter with a fightback. It’s just the way we roll.

It’s early days yet, but South Africans have vowed they have had enough of the looting and destruction that has gripped the country for the past week by reusing to sit back and watch our businesses, shops and cities burn.

After the initial shock of witnessing the blatant vandalism and criminality in the country, particularly in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, the citizens of the rainbow nation started hitting back late this week, first by working with law enforcement agencies and then within their own community policing forums to take back our streets.

Communities cleaning up the rubble left by the violent protests, neighbourhood watches standing united at intersections to make sure their communities were protected and taxi associations and drivers not letting looters enter their turf was a common sight. Security companies, parking attendants and ordinary residents all took up the call to safeguard their families… their communities.

One such group on Facebook, RebuildSA – Volunteers, took it up a notch by offering services and help to those in need. By late yesterday, they had more than

40 000 members, with many lending help to clean damaged areas, businesses and even offering engineering companies’ services to reconstruct whatever is broken.