South Africans come together to repel depressing wave of destruction

South Africans are standing together to protect and guard their communities against looters who have reduced large swathes of the country to ashes.

What began as #JacobZumaArrest on social media, with people from various hostels in KwaZuluNatal and Gauteng marching and chanting songs for the former president to be released from prison, quickly turned into looting, thuggery and vandalism with a new #ShutdownSA, followed by ProtectSA.

Community members and the taxi industry throughout the country decided enough was enough and decided to join forces to prevent their communities from becoming looting targets.

Pimville resident Nhlanhla Lux, who was part of a group that made sure Maponya Mall was not looted, said Soweto residents had the responsibility of maintaining its structures.

“It is important for people to understand that the township economy belongs to the ordinary people, being us,” Lux said.

“If we had the dependency syndrome of always waiting for a saviour to come and save the township, we’d be dilapidated the way we were these past few days.

“We’ve teamed up with all law enforcement to make sure what is left of the township infrastructure from an economy point of view is protected.

“It was our responsibility to do so.”

He added that the team that protected the mall made chased away potential looters, including children.

“Looters relied on children. Half the time when there were people looting, especially in Soweto, it was people under the age of 21 and, then, the older people followed.

“The children led the way and then the real chaos began, with the community at large flocking to shops to steal,” he said.

Tshwane South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) chairperson Abner Tsebe said it was for the association to join forces with Pretoria because they were essentially part of one community.

“Pretoria was receptive to work with the taxi industry, which was a plus, and gave us more confidence that the looters
would not destroy Pretoria like they did KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng,” he said.

Tsebe added the community was not competing with the police, nor taking the law into their own hands.

“We are doing everything we can to protect the community which was within the law. We have done everything we could to stabilise any problematic situations.”

He said although there were a few looters who tried their luck, the community handled the situation well.

“I can confirm there was no shop that was vandalised or burned under or watch. In some areas, there were instances where people tried their luck, but did not succeed.

“These individuals defended their attempts of thuggery and violence by saying there was a high unemployment rate in the country and they were tired of the government’s empty promises,” he said.

Menlyn taxi association also issued a statement condemning the lootings and other criminal activities.

“The organisation is strongly condemning the acts of looting activities currently taking place in our malls. We therefore request managements to work hand in hand with us to make sure that we assist the SA Police Service in defending and protecting our customers,” said the statement.

Pimville ward councillor Reynette Moabi said she was glad she was part of a community who made sure Maponya mall was still standing.

“The community coming out in numbers to guard Maponya mall was not a failure of the government,” she said.

“Remember, community participation was one of the principles of reconstruction and development and we implemented that particular one.

“For any community to protect and support anything, they must be a part of it, so this was definitely not a failure on government’s side but rather community participation and a partnership with the government.”

– asandam@citizen.co.za