SEDIBENG.- Waking up in South Africa has come to be stressful, it has come to be filled with a lot of uncertainty.
It is not known if we will ever get off load-shedding, and as I write this, seventeen people have died in Hamanskraal because of contaminated water and the blaming game, together with corruption, continues to rear its ugly head amongst those responsible, those at the top of the ladder.
These are just but a few typical examples of a degrading, yet beloved South Africa.
In this country, those with power, the rich, the ones born with ‘golden teaspoons’ in their mouths can still afford to pour full tanks of gasoline in their cars, they can still afford to wear the latest brands, damn they can still afford to push a trolley full of groceries at the local mall.
The uncertainty of waking up from South Africa stems from the fact that nothing is guaranteed, people are dying, people are blaming each other while others have turned to backstabbing, and going behind people’s backs with the hope that they secure whatever little livelihood they can to survive, all this in the name of others.
On the other hand, almost a quarter of the country is living from hand to mouth.
It must be said that life has always had worries, and many of those worries were the ones you didn’t have to think about and so they didn’t affect us much. A couple of years ago one felt relatively safe in our day-to-day activities without giving it too much thought. Much of the uncertainty could be ignored but that’s no longer true for so many people.
The uncertainty of the current situation in South Africa does not choose colour, this uncertainty is not sexist, it is not xenophobic nor is it religiously biased.
It is simply that, real fear of uncertainty!
Research has shown that South Africa faces difficult choices in a fast-changing world. Economic growth has weakened over the past five years, and it is said to be likely to increase over the coming years and that is why waking up in South Africa has indeed become a painful uncertainty because some do not know if they will still be employed at the end of the day, some do not know where their next meal will come from, and some do not even have a roof over their heads.
Having said that, I believe and know that South Africans are strong people.
We have overcome the devil that was (is) called Apartheid, South Africans continue to forge ahead, no matter the circumstances. South Africans are resilient people, we are strong, and we care for one another. One day, just one day, we will overcome this situation and gladly look back to say, we have triumphed.
My advice to those that are in a situation of uncertainty is simple, don’t wait to live your life. While it’s likely you can’t live the way you would prefer right now, find the best possible life given the current circumstances.
Lerato wa ha Serero…
