Not an hour before the 11 people were being arrested in Chaka’s Rock for committing the heinous crime of being on the beach, I saw a field of boys joyfully playing soccer not too far away.
There were no policemen dragging them into vans and making them sweat in the cells.
I know it’s not an excuse, but the double standards being played out before our eyes every day of this lockdown are unbelievable.
Every day I pass beggars standing at street corners, far from their homes, but no police arrest them.
One night last week two men were sitting right in the middle of the road at Chaka’s Rock, using those cones the driving instructors store in the parking lot there, to wave down traffic and solicit money.
No police there either.
As much as the municipality promises an ‘internal investigation’ into Sunday’s disgusting spectacle, and knowing their fondness for sweeping embarrassing matters under the carpet, there can be absolutely no excuse for manhandling a four-year-old child.
Yes, the adults were breaking the regulations if they were on the beach. Then it is the parents who must be held responsible, not the children.
What is more, these are the traffic officers, peace officers, call them what you will, who are never to be seen in normal times.
They are never directing traffic, never fining vehicles for jumping red lights, never doing their jobs in any places I have been in recent years.
They, and the regular police, were also conspicuous by their absence along the Ballito beachfront before Easter, when drunken revellers made life a misery for
beachfront residents and businesses.
Then they weren’t sure they had the power of arrest, nor did they even try.
But now, faced with an 88-year-old man and a four-year-old boy, they have no problem in showing off their under-developed muscle.
Thanks to them, their antics are now national news.
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I am so sick of the C word, but over the past eight weeks (or is it months?) I’ve come to realise that the world as far as the lives of my generation are concerned, will never be ‘normal’ again.
In recent days we’ve been scouring news channels and social media more than ever for some light at the end of the tunnel, and the rumours and ‘fake news’ have been flying thick and fast.
This has created the perfect breeding ground for conspiracy theories and disinformation.
I got into conversation with a friend who truly believes that 5G and Bill Gates are behind the spread of the virus, stories being punted by a self-styled guru named David Icke. 5G, if you didn’t know, is new superfast wireless technology developed by the Chinese company Huawei.
Bill Gates got mixed up in the virus mess by donating $100 million for virus research, which has been translated by the conspiracy theorists into him being a pro-virus secret agent (so thanks for nothing, Billy boy!).
David Icke is a well-known nutter. Among other things, he believes we are descended from lizards from outer space.
I don’t believe for a moment that I have a direct line to truth, but I don’t believe in fairies at the bottom of my garden or that I’ll catch flu from the TV.
There simply isn’t any evidence of either.
There are some truths that are clearly needed, like mathematics, weights and measures etc.
Otherwise when you decide to buy locomotives from China and you don’t know the difference in gauges of railway lines, you end up with R50 billion worth of useless metal.
One locomotive doesn’t fit all railway lines – ask the geniuses at Transnet.
The University of Cape Town School of Business is also interested in this phenomenon.
A Professor Camaren told Fin24 they have been researching the creation of fake media.
“We have found that there is a fringe of individuals who promote weird and whacky material that they believe to be true. It’s mostly harmless and tends to fade quickly in social media.
“But some well-moneyed organisations, and foreign government agencies, are using social media to manipulate public opinion through tactics that include misinformation, disinformation, distortion and lies. They develop and amplify attention grabbing stories, keeping them alive on social media platforms in the hope they gain traction and credibility.”
Manipulation through social media on a grand scale has been identified in globally significant events like the invasion of Crimea by Russia in 2013, the outcome of the Brexit vote and the Trump presidential campaign in 2016.
A more contemporary example is the climate change denialism movement, which is funded to the tune of a billion dollars every year by right wing American organisations.
The money is used to spread false information and distorted stories on social media to suggest that climate change is not true, or is not as bad as it’s made out to be.
The motive is to undermine the climate change movement by promoting disagreement and dissent, Prof Camaren believes.
So, be wary of those on social media who promote a disruptive agenda, particularly when they hide behind made-up names like ‘Phil the Greek’ or another nom-de-plume.
There are sites like Snopes that specialise in tracking down false stories and you’re free to use their services if you’re suspicious about a story you’ve read.
That’s not to say that we must all confirm to a single viewpoint, even if that were possible.
In many cases, does it matter at all that people believe things that might be anathema to others?
People all over the world, from Iceland to Borneo, have vastly different beliefs in how to live their lives, what they eat, who they pray to, how they raise their children, but does it have any effect on how their lives turn out?
No, it doesn’t. And if you want to believe your first cousin is a blue-headed lizard, go for it!
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People swear there are more butterflies and moths about than usual, but perhaps we just don’t normally notice.
Have you noticed, during your new-found habit of strolling through the streets in the mornings, how many ripe amatungulu, otherwise known as Natal Plum or Num-Num, are in the roadside bushes?
I imagine it is because there have been so few passers-by that they have flourished unseen.
Rose spotted a White-Bellied Sunbird in the garden – a first for us – otherwise the birdlife has been pretty much as normal.
Though I think the three resident Black-collared Barbets and a Fiscal Shrike between them scare away the more timid visitors. Hadedas and Ring-necked Doves don’t count.
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Two windmills are standing in a wind farm. One asks, “What’s your favourite kind of music?” The other says, “I’m a big metal fan.”
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