Dear friends,
Many of you outside of South Africa are wondering what is really going on. So here is a very simple outline. The thing is obviously far more complex and nuanced than can be set out in a brief note but this will give you some picture of what is really happening.
The Good, The Bad, The Ugly and Everything In Between
Yowzer Trowzer living through an attempted insurrection is not for the faint hearted! I hope I never experience another one in my lifetime! But just in case I should ever find myself in a time of extreme crisis, here is a list of things I learned. Feel free to add yours to the list so we can never say we are not well and truly prepared, mentally and physically!
When Facing Potential Hunger Or COVID, I Didn’t Once Think Of COVID
Two weeks ago when things went belly up in Kwazulu Natal with the unsuccessful insurrection, I found myself on the third day worried about where food was going to come from. Our fridge was running empty quickly and I needed to make a plan. I got wind that some courageous store owner was going to try open and heed the call for people’s urgent cry for food so I jumped in my car to wait in the queue in earnest.
Word spread fast and within 30 minutes a couple thousand people must have gathered outside the said retailer. And then it struck me: here we were, almost at the peak of the third COVID wave, and not one person was worried about the crowd. Given the choice between feeding your family and facing COVID, people were very clearly more concerned with the former.
And Now These Three Things Remain: “Faith, Hope and Love”
During the recent unrest in Kwazulu Natal I decided to help protect my community by joining the security and patrol teams. I was joined by a young man who was equally willing to serve. The first time I saw him I actually thought he was there to beg for food. Please don’t judge my automatic assumption: he was not well dressed, had dread locks in his hair, his teeth were terrible and it all added up to what we normally see and assume is a homeless man or beggar.
Even lights that try to shine bright some times go out.
Yesterday, Friday the 16th of July, my flame was extinguished. I was very emotional and I think that’s totally okay. I was crying because I knew the imminent danger was over. I was crying because I was moving out of survival mode. I was crying for the horrific damage to property and the loss of businesses. I was crying for environmental damage. I was crying for the future ahead that will be characterized by job losses, hunger and a harder life, especially for the poverty stricken. I was crying because I felt God’s goodness like never before. And yes, I was crying for the extraordinary love and courage that I have witnessed this week.
Never in my lifetime, have I been this proud to call myself a South African, even though yesterday was one of the most terrifying days of my life. We have not slept a wink since Sunday. Many people have lost their businesses and their livelihoods entirely. We were personally not excluded from this destruction.
You were very clever Mr Zuma. You planned your targets very well. You knew exactly where to throw the matches to set the skyline alight. You hit certain factories because you wanted massive flames. Watching the TV now, you and your team are probably rubbing your greedy hands together and congratulating yourselves on what you think is an ingenious plan and a roaring success.
But Mr Zuma, I want to tell you loud and clear, that you are wrong.
I Know It’s Scary Out There But Evil Can Only Persist When Good People Do Nothing
I woke up to the sound of bullets this morning so loud that I thought someone was banging on my door. Parts of South Africa are burning today, especially in the province I live in: Kwazulu Natal.
Protesters, apparently angry that Jacob Zuma, our former President, has been jailed are having a field day burning trucks, malls, property and looting to their hearts content.
This chaos started last Thursday and has escalated. I was afraid this morning. The gun shots and shouting were off the charts and my fear started rearing its ugly head.