Now that the dust around the civil unrest and mayhem over the past week is beginning to settle, we have to urgently attend to the legitimate socioeconomic issues that were raised by the riots.
At the outset, we have to condemn the mayhem that erupted in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. Similarly, we have to express our dismay at the tardy, fragmented and woefully inadequate response by law enforcement agencies, especially the failure of intelligence services.
Our hearts go out to the families of the more than 200 people who have lost their lives as a result of the events of the past week. Law enforcement agencies need to clamp down on the perpetrators of this mayhem to restore our faith in them.
Shocking as last week’s developments were, some good came out of it. Communities from seven provinces stood up and rejected the violence, and in parts of Gauteng communities risked their lives to protect malls from looters. A lot of good conversations are taking place within communities around how to assist small businesses to quickly rebound. These should continue and be supported.
It is also commendable that the Solidarity Fund is adapting its mandate to accommodate short-term relief to communities affected by the events of the past few days.
However, the events of the past few days have laid bare our fault lines and provided a glimpse of what awaits us if we don’t urgently attend to the crisis of unemployment, poverty and inequality. In addition, the project of building a nonracial SA is far from over.
In a country with more than 40% unemployment and 70% youth unemployment, this explosion was inevitable.
Millions of our people go to bed hungry, and take turns in eating as the humanitarian crisis is unfolding.
The capacity of our state is dismally weak – the events were not foreseen. In Gauteng, one mall was looted a mere stone's throw away from the cops.
Taking out the criminal and treasonous element that hijacked the legitimate grievances of ordinary South Africans, what we saw has been years in the making.
Twenty-seven years into the post-apartheid dispensation, tens of millions of ordinary South Africans have yet to taste the fruits of freedom.
For years now, black African communities have been venting their anger at failing public services through sometimes violent protests – burning public infrastructure such as schools and municipal offices to register their dissatisfaction. Violence appears to be the only language that elected officials understand.
Last week they looted infrastructure, including critical supplies. It’s not hard to see why: inclusive growth remains but a dream.
The malls became a symbol of their resentment and economic exclusion. While appreciative of the important role retail outlets play in providing essential supplies, including medication and food for the few who can still afford them, the ownership of these assets remains in few hands.
In the last 27 years, only a few companies have transferred some 30% worth of stocks to black owners, appointed a few blacks onto boards and into management of these large companies. This is a recipe for the social disaster we saw a week ago.
The majority of the economy – specifically 75% – has to be owned by the black majority if we are to avert a social conflagration.
Once calm has been restored, we have to have an urgent conversation about the post-Covid economy we want, an economy in which the majority of our people feel they have a stake. This is in everyone’s self-interest.
In the meantime, though, we need to spare no effort in ensuring that small businesses (the tenants of the vandalised shopping malls) get back on their feet as quickly as possible.
The government needs to ensure that peace and stability is maintained to ensure a return to some sort of normality. Also, some relief should be provided to many casual workers who are affected by the mayhem through temporary loss of employment.
Insurers need to prioritise claims from small business owners, and big businesses need to support recovery through the settlement of outstanding invoices.
We need to do all we can to avoid a repeat of the scenes we saw last week.
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