EDITORIAL | Riots are a wake-up call that inequality must be addressed

From the ruins of last week’s looting and violent conflicts emerged an outpouring of unity, as many South Africans marked Nelson Mandela Day on Sunday by giving much of their time in pursuit of the broader good in ways not seen before. 

Many in KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Gauteng put on their cleaning regalia and spent more than their allocated 67 minutes, removing debris and charred remains of torched buildings in a bid to return our country to normal. 

Others, like Yolanda Cuba of the Mentorship Boardroom, organised 67-minute online sessions for mostly young people who otherwise would not have had the opportunity to be mentored by successful people in society. Mentors included CEOs, CFOs, founders of major brands and media personalities.

The leitmotif for the many initiatives seemed to be Mandela’s call: “What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.”

President Cyril Ramaphosa, on the other hand, was on a whirlwind tour of areas ravaged by the riots in Soweto, days after a similar trip to KwaZulu-Natal. Ramaphosa said while those behind the riots sought to divide and cause mayhem, the people of SA, united in their diversity, had used Mandela Day to reinforce their commitment to peace and unity. 

In the circumstances, and given the outpouring of unity across our land yesterday, this means that we, as a people, must keep working on creating an inclusive economy.

Nowhere in the country was this clearer than in KwaZulu-Natal, where the communities of Raisethorpe and a nearby informal settlement in Pietermaritzburg received food parcels following internecine violence in the area. Days ago, rioters believed to be from the informal settlement looted and vandalised property and the largely Indian suburb retaliated with the burning of a few shacks. 

Yesterday, both Africans and South Africans of Indian origin said they were not part of the criminal bands who torched shacks or looted. They wanted to do whatever is possible to help. 

Granted, food parcels will not replace the makeshift shacks destroyed in the retaliatory attacks. But they send an important message that those behind the violence, on both sides, don’t enjoy unquestioned support. 

There is the same principle behind much of the rebuilding happening in Gauteng townships — not everyone in townships is given to looting. If anything, the reason Maponya Mall in the heart of Soweto is unaffected is because local residents took it upon themselves to create a protective shield at a time when our country’s police, and politicians, were nowhere to be found.  

As South Africans united in picking up the pieces on Sunday, wondering what had become of Mandela’s Rainbow Nation, sceptics believed the tenuous peace enjoyed since 1994 was coming apart.

While the riots represent a window into what is possible if we do not address poverty and inequality in our midst, we are, however, reminded of Mandela’s prescient words: “A winner is a dreamer who never gives up.”

In the circumstances, and given the outpouring of unity across our land yesterday, this means that we, as a people, must keep working on creating an inclusive economy. It also means we should never give up on pursuing reconciliation. 

But such pursuits must be accompanied by an elaborate strategy to help many come out of ignominious lives of poverty and want. Long after we have carried the rubble from the ruins together, others must still make a plan where their food parcels will be stored, while they seek to rebuild their rickety structures which mean the world to them. 

Though transient unity and reconciliation may appear, they must be welcomed. They represent the triumph of the human spirit in the face of wanton criminality, enabled by sheer government ineptitude.