We are a beautiful country but political thugs are dragging us into the Dark Ages

Dear DM168 readers,

There is a saying in my family whenever we have differences or disagreements: “You have to leave to re-enter.” It means that it helps to pause, take a deep breath, go for a walk and take a break to get some perspective. This pause de-escalates the pesky emotions and egos that trap us in spirals of anger, frustration, and hurt and turns off the competitive urge to only listen to respond, win or be right rather than hearing and understanding each other or fathoming what the underlying issues are actually about.

So it was that our family drove down the N3 to the south coast of KZN for our sons’ school holiday and to pause the “Have you done your homework? Have you practised your piano? Turn off your gadgets, be quiet I am on deadline,” vibe.

Waking up to the whales flicking their flukes on the Indian Ocean, body surfing and being dumped by huge warm curling waves, and hearing my sons’ shrieks of laughter as they wrestled each other in the water was priceless. We drove through the banana plantations and sugar cane fields of the south coast and explored the Oribi Gorge canyon, with its mist-laden crags that look like a perfect launch pad for the dragons the blue aliens connected with in Avatar.

Oribi Gorge

It was awesome. A much-needed break from our daily routines of school and work to experience the joy of being with each other and the wonder of exploring a beautiful part of our country. The bliss lasted until the morning we packed to return home when we discovered that three burglars attempted to break into our holiday rental at 1.04am when we were all fast asleep. They tried lifting the garage door with a crowbar. They broke the latch on a side gate. The CCTV cameras showed three figures peering through windows but unable to enter. We were fine. Safe. Saved by alarms and security gates. Nothing was taken. Relief.  A back-to-reality jolt about always being alert, however relaxed you are and never letting your guard down.

The next back-to-reality jolt was the first traffic jam on the N3 heading back to Gauteng. Trucks for Africa backed up wherever you looked. It dawned on me how our economy has been screwed by State Capture and the hollowing out of Transnet and our rail services. Cars manufactured in Pretoria, Durban and Gqeberha have to be transported by truck, ditto fruit, vegetables, meat and all imports which land in our harbours, (which, as Ray Mahlaka and Ed Stoddard write in this week’s paper, are under siege by the Transnet workers’ strike). Did the doyens of disaster who ruined Transnet, Eskom, SAA and the myriad other state-run enterprises ever think beyond their stomachs and bank balances about how their greed and incompetence are literally dragging us back in the Dark Ages? I guess not.

In this week's lead story Estelle Ellis, Hoseya Jubase, and Victoria O’Regan write about yet another terrifying descent into the hell our democracy has become. The murder and attacks on local government councillors in the contestation for power and, let’s face it, for a hand in the almost empty drawer of our public cash register.

Dear readers, I admit this story is not a very uplifting return from my break with my family. But we cannot bury our heads in the sand and ignore the evil that is permeating every facet of our country wherever there are rands and cents to be grabbed. We need to know that not all South Africans are murderous and corrupt. But we also need to know that every good South African has to do whatever they can to stop this descent into hell.

More and more that lyric by the White Tie Affair “I am so sick and tired of being sick and tired” plays in my head like an earworm on an acid trip. I am sick and tired of the greed, the incompetence, the corruption, the crime, the load shedding, the water shedding, the joy-and-sense-of-wonder shedding.  I am sure you all feel the same. The thing is I really love this place. My country. Our country. Our South Africa. My family’s south coast holiday made me realise this more acutely. Because of this love, I am not prepared to give up the fight to expose the rot and the rotten. And to find many ways to leave and re-enter. Neither should you.

As always, please send your thoughts and reflections for the Readers’ page to [email protected]

 

Yours in defence of truth,

Heather

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available at retail outlets countrywide from Saturday 15 October to Friday 21 October for R25.