The ongoing scourge of violent or disruptive protests when people feel aggrieved about some issue, needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency by government.
It is not so much the principle of protest action that is in question, but rather the methods applied.
In fact, quite often the public at large actually sympathises with frustrated communities when they take drastic action as a result of incompetence or lack of proactive communication by leaders that leaves them desperate.
These factors are mostly the cause of the regular upheavals experienced throughout the country and more specifically in Zululand.
But it is also true that many protests have little merit, merely serving as opportunistic means of serving own agendas by self-serving groups or individuals.
Close to home, two incidents last Friday are cases in point.
Taxi owners and operators shut down the John Ross Parkway – the main artery between Richards Bay and Empangeni – simply to vent their anger about transport authorities fining unlawful operators and impounding taxis.
Earlier in the day the R102 was blockaded with burning debris and vehicles of innocent motorists were stoned because the community was upset about the delay of tarring a dirt road.
Taxi owners do not have the right to disrupt economic activity by blocking a major route because authorities are simply doing their job in curbing unlawful activities.
And while there may be a degree of understanding for the community’s frustration of years of empty promises about their tarred road, they have no right to prevent citizens from going about their business or threaten them with violent action such as stoning vehicles.
At a time when the country is at a crossroads in terms of economic recovery and all it entails, we simply cannot afford the billions lost to economically disruptive actions and major structural damage to resources caused by unruly protesters.
Mature and pre-emptive negotiations are the way to go if we hope to ever make progress – but then authorities and protesters need to change the way things are done as a collective.
The bottom line is that the current culture of mindless slash-and-burn tactics must come to an end and leaders must stop making empty promises to worm themselves out of tough situations.
