A friend recently told me if he could, he would leave South Africa and pitch his tent in another country. However, he wouldn’t say exactly which one he thought was paradise.
He was dispirited by the bad news and lack of leadership, whichever way you looked. Indeed, ours is a country beset by lawlessness, rampant unemployment and young people wasting away daily with no aim or purpose.
Teenage pregnancy has become a sport and nyaope stalks townships and cities. Our education system leaves a lot to be desired, and graduates are stuck at home with no prospect for work.
Those supposed to lead and give direction are squabbling over millions in foreign currency stolen from under our president’s mattress.
Then we have foreigners entering South Africa willy-nilly and illegally digging minerals from beneath our soil while generally running amok and terrorising locals with illegal firearms.
Dispiriting in the extreme, I hear you say.
Then, I ask my friend, why is everyone from the four points of the compass beating a beehive to Mzansi? Could all those people be mistaken for seeing opportunities that we fail to grab?
The Asians and Somalis have captured the township retail market, where we expend the R350 almonds the government dispenses to salve its conscience for failing to create conditions to grow the economy and create jobs.
Frankly, we have taken our eyes off the ball and are busy squabbling over foreigners in our midst instead of dealing with the real problem.
Politicians have countless times failed us; yet we still place our hopes in them while they don’t give a damn about us.
The millionaires who sit in parliament are cushioned from the problems ordinary people face, such as lack of access to clean water and spilling sewage that has become the norm in our towns and cities. All they do is waffle nonsense, pretending to have a handle on things.
For the longest time people have complained about illegal foreigners jostling for jobs, services and amenities while the government looked the other way.
Now the situation has gotten out of hand and people are making their voices heard by ill-treating people who came here looking for opportunities and medical care.
So, what is to be done? Like my friend, I do not have the means to leave this country, and even if I did, I wouldn’t know where to go.
This is a great and beautiful country and we all must stand up and smell the coffee.
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