The Process of being a Sefrican

So on Tuesday night there was an armed robbery at the place where I worked. I could very well have been working that night, but thankfully (and ironically) I was studying Criminal Procedure for my exam the next day. Anyway, it was quite hectic, and most demeaning to people I care deeply about, and so I was really shaken up about it.

As usual, it got me thinking about the state of our country, and I started to think how it was going down the drain, etc etc etc. Thankfully, however, my optimism for this country has been completely fucked over, because I reason with myself that whilst it would be so nice to live in a completely crime-free society, I would get bored. Or at least, that’s what I think.

I don’t really know, because I wasn’t the one with a gun in my face on Tuesday night, and I’m not one living the life in Perth. Although I must say that I have been to Perth, and found it to be a bit like the town of Kimberly with skyscrapers, and I think I would find myself pining for the frenetic nature of Joburg.

But I’m digressing, as usual. My whole point is that over the past day or so, I have gone through a period of what Gevisser calls ‘the bust.’ In this well-written and insightful article, available over here, and with thanks to Kev for pointing it out to me, he talks about how South Africans see in their country in a dichotomy: it’s either in a boom, or it’s in a bust.

We’ve just recently had a boom with the Bokke wining the rugby world cup. It was exemplified as much in the photo below, where Mbeki took on the iconic figure that Madiba has always held on to, and represented all that was good about South Africa: that after years of Apartheid, we were finally united as one country.

A few years ago rugby was perceived as an inherent white Afrikaaner male sport, and now it is seemingly supported by everyone in South Africa and is no longer seen as the ‘Sport of Oppression.’ Indeed I was really quite surprised when I filled up my car with petrol the day before the game, and a black female ‘mama’ (who was filling up my car – viva female empowerment in the petrol-attendant industry!) told me how excited she was about the upcoming match.

And I thought to myself that perhaps we are finally starting to see our country coming full circle, into one where all people are one and where we all relate to each other in ‘YAY-Rainbow-Nation’ and ubuntu type of manner.

But then the armed robbery happened, and I thought – FUCK! Crime seriously is tearing apart the social fabric of our society. And whilst I don’t deny for one second that it’s certainly doing a good job of it, we have to take a step back and remind ourselves of the ‘boom’ times – When we won the bid for the Soccer World Cup, or when we won the Rugby World Cups in 1995 and this year.

We have to remember how these events united us all as one nation, and how they showed that South Africans can actually live together in harmony with one another. And, in fact, we have to do this in order to undo the ‘busts’ that threaten to destroy the social fibre of our society. If we don’t, then the ‘busts’ will override the ‘booms’ and then South Africa might just go kaput.

But we must also remember is that we cannot expect South Africa to be a perfect country, and I think that many of us did that after 1994. We must try see our problems in a proactive, rather than a reactive light. We have a high crime rate – what should we do? Create a culture of humility from a very young age, and teach kiddlie winks that they must face the consequences of our actions. But to run away, or killing the fuckers, isn’t going to solve the problem.

Anyway, read the article, and also attend the talk Mark Gevisser (who wrote the article, and will soon be releasing a book on Moooobheki) will be giving at Wits on November the 12th. Should be fascinating. I’m like totally gonna be there.

P.S – two posts in one month – i is rox. x