Those of us not living under the breadline must sit up and note the heavy storm that pounded our city. It is a metaphor for the menacing thunderclouds hovering over our country that urgently needs to be addressed but has nothing to do with Mother Nature, writes Gasant Abarder in a new #SliceofGasant column.
When I was growing up and being force-fed American sitcoms and animated shows that used to be beamed on the three channels available, I used to envy the kids for getting off school for weather days. It was the 80s and 90s and we didn’t enjoy the liberties we do now.
Yesterday, I had one such weather day where the management of the organisation I work for asked us to work from home. I was grateful. I wrote this in my PJs and gown. It took me back to the COVID pandemic and how we longed for social interaction as we lived in isolation.
But this time I’m thinking of all the displaced people, those who live in shacks that rapidly become flooded, and the homeless – who at last count – stood at something like 20 000.
Mysteriously, the homeless who set up shelter on the pavement outside the Observatory shopping complex have been moved. One hopes they were able to weather this storm is some sort of shelter that the City of Cape Town has provided.
I know without needing to check the news that areas like Khayelitsha, Gugulethu, Philippi and Crossroads are now flooded. And some bosses are not as compassionate as mine. It’s come to work or don’t get paid. This means having to navigate heavy weather and localised flooding for the four hour or so journey that it takes to get to work and back every day on public transport.
Those are the people who actually have work because our unemployment rate is staggering while our executive, cabinet and deputy minister posts have grown even more bloated – bleeding the taxpayer dry. We’re waiting patiently for a State of the National Address and given President Ramaphosa’s last uninspiring one I’m not holding my breath that this new Government of National Unity is going to leap into action.
The thing is life in South Africa in terms of the cost of living, joblessness and homelessness is going to get far worse before it gets better. We’re hitting an iceberg first if we wait for the Titanic new government to move swiftly because most people want an austere, trimmed-down cabinet and executive that are agile to the real needs of people.
President Ramaphosa has spoken about 4IR and Smart Cities when people in South Africa are living on around R35 a day in the most unequal country in the world.
The bubble is going to burst like the thunderstorms that pounded Cape Town this weekend. And if you’re comfortable right now don’t get too comfortable as the economy remains static, food prices and other essentials are rising beyond our means, salaries stay the same or are cut, and retrenchments are around every corner.
Most of us live a paycheque away from being homeless and being exposed to the elements like so many of our compatriots. The reality is that people are drowning in debt and living off credit cards and bank overdrafts they can’t afford. The middle class is shrinking and there are elements in government in ministerial positions who believe in removing the minimum wage.
Let’s be honest, this Government of National Unity is not so much a triumph in terms of political parties putting their differences aside as it is of political expediency and the jockeying of positions.
South Africa: the land of dreams where someone who spent 10 years in prison – and not for political activity – can become the Minister of Sport and make light of it with the Judge President while being sworn in. Minister Gayton McKenzie is being quoted that he wants to make the spinning of cars the national sport. You can’t make this up, folks!
We are a resilient people and we have a history of weathering the worst storms. But the worst storm has yet to hit with a deck of cards filled with jokers in charge.
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