Following last week’s article about the #ShutDown protests, I have had a few very interesting emails from readers.
The one I found most thought-provoking wanted to know why protesters are not taking any of the blame themselves.
It’s one of those counter-intuitive comments that stun you at first until you give it some deep thought.
We tend to blame everyone - from politicians to SAPS - for the violence that plagues our communities and the terrible train service.
And while the authorities should shoulder some of the blame, the truth is, most of the fault is ours.
We are quick to protest, but not as quick to report the guy trying to sell us a stolen TV. We know the uncle down the street is drying perly illegally, but we keep quiet because he’s going to drop off a bag for us again.
It’s our kids who are slashing and tearing the first class seats apart on the trains, but we don’t report them, because it’s not so bad mos.
And then we blame Metrorail for poor service.
We know whose kids are hiding illegal guns in the backyard, but we keep quiet because we don’t want to get involved.
And when he shoots an innocent person, we are just glad that it wasn’t our child that got shot.
We destroy clinics, fire stations, schools and municipal buildings because we are mad that government isn’t doing enough for us.
But we don’t understand that government now has to use that money to repair the things we just destroyed.
And the sad part of it all is that we know the culprits because we are often the beneficiaries of their crimes.
But it is our communities at large that are the victims of those crimes - big or small.
We don’t seem to understand that we can no longer turn a blind eye to the criminals in our community, simply because they aren’t committing a crime against us directly.
Every crime they commit is a blow against our communities.
We come from a history where everything was given to us, so ownership may be a foreign concept.
I’m simplifying for the sake of time and space, but the bottom line is, pre-1994, the government gave us houses, jobs, pensions and even food if we needed it.
So it’s difficult for us to comprehend that the clinic, the train, the council building, the bus and the school fencing belong to all us.
It is our property and our responsibility, so destroying it is no longer an act of rebellion; it is an act of self-sabotage.
Similarly, our safety is our responsibility.
So unless we start looking after our stuff ourselves, our circumstances as a whole will never change.