EDITORIAL | We’ve united in the best of times, and now we’re uniting in the worst of times

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness ...”

This line from the opening paragraph of Charles Dickens’s novel A Tale of Two Cities relates to the contrast between London and Paris during the French Revolution.

But yesterday it was a fitting description for the contradictory events unfolding in SA, as the wanton criminality of violent looters was met with an inspiring counterattack from crime-weary communities, who surged forth to take their streets back.

It was poetry in motion.

As the smoke from burnt-out buildings began to clear, our heroes strode out wielding brooms, buckets and bakkies. They were there on a mission: to clean up the streets. Both literally and figuratively.

Shoprite employees stood on the pavement outside the door to their store, shoo-ing opportunists away and waving placards that read “No to looting” and “No looting here”.

In Diepsloot, community members helped police identify marauders’ homes where the loot had been hidden. Video footage showed police and soldiers carrying TVs, stoves, fridges, beds, doors, clothing — and even a packet of frozen vegetables — out of homes, as community members helped haul bulk packs of dishwashing liquid, T-shirts and cushions out onto the pavement.

“We want to see Diepsloot in 2030 being a crime-free zone,” the residents’ association secretary Akim Zulu said. “We are saying ‘no’ to the barbaric behaviour of looting.” 

Then there is the group of grannies in Johannesburg’s inner city neighbourhood of Bertrams who act as a lookout team, alerting the neighbourhood watch and police when looters approach their local shops.

We are here to fix this looting issue, which we don’t understand. We are trying to safeguard shops so we don’t run out of necessities. We can’t suffer because of foolishness.

—  Peter Puzzle of the Kasi Brothers from Atteridgeville

And just a day after the Facebook group Rebuild SA was created — bringing together people from across SA eager to volunteer their help for those in need affected by the riots —  it had 27,000 members.

Johann de Bruin in Springs was offering the use of his bakkie to help with the cleanup. Siyabonga Mazibuko posted photos of locals cleaning up streets in Dobsonville. Many others simply said where they lived and asked “how can I help?”

Over in Atteridgeville in Pretoria, a group calling themselves the Kasi Brothers is taking shifts guarding shopping malls in the area. “We are here to fix this looting issue, which we don’t understand,” said group member Peter Puzzle. “We are trying to safeguard shops so we don’t run out of necessities. We can’t suffer because of foolishness.”

On Wednesday deputy state security minister Zizi Kodwa visited Maponya Mall in Pimville, Soweto, where he hailed locals for helping SANDF soldiers and police protect the shopping centre — the only one still standing in the area.

However some groups have taken a more hardline approach. The Katlehong Peoples Taxi Association in Vosloorus brandished sjamboks and guns in a bid to scare off looters. Taxi drivers guarding the Vosloorus Mall opened fire on looters with what is believed to be live ammunition on Wednesday, as Ekurhuleni metro police tried to defuse the situation. 

The actions of the taxi association members cannot be condoned, and will only lead to further violence. The tense stand-off highlighted the inability of the police to control looters and restore law and order. 

However, for the most part, the community intervention has been a heartwarming antidote to days of violent plundering that has left most South Africans feeling hopeless, angry and dejected at the brazen thugs who are — directly or indirectly — responsible for the deaths of more than 72 people and who have cost the economy about R1bn in stock losses, R15bn in destruction of property and put more than 130,000 jobs at risk. They have also closed down many vaccine sites at a time when the country needs them most, and have caused a new Covid outbreak, the extent of which will only be known in the weeks to come when symptoms begin to show.

SA is a country of many contradictions — most noticeably the yawning gap between the haves and the have nots. During times of adversity, both the best and the worst come out in people.

But the tenacity and spirit of ubuntu that is sweeping across the country after the dark days of the past week is irrepressible.

We need to harness it, and use it to pull SA back into the light. 

It takes a village to build a country, and this week’s astounding community spirit has left shaken South Africans with more pride in their hearts than if Bafana Bafana had won the Soccer World Cup.