White families are destitute too
IN THE aftermath of what has transpired at Imizamo Yethu in Hout Bay, and subsequently finding out that the number of displaced and homeless people affected by the disaster had been hugely inflated, with less than 7 500 instead of 15 000 people affected by the fire disaster, please give a thought to the ones who have found themselves in almost similar situations, having been displaced by circumstances beyond their control.
Squatter camps built after the fall of apartheid are now home to hundreds of destitute white families. Working-class white people, most of them Afrikaans-speaking, are also going through an intense crisis in South Africa where these families have to endure daily conditions of abject poverty, with very little food or running water and no electricity.
This means that many white South Africans have also fallen on hard times living below the poverty line in South Africa which happened after the ANC government introduced laws that promoted blacks and aimed to give them a greater share of the economy.
Not only has the economy of the country struck these squatters but they are also now subjected to more and more health issues, with stagnant water where mosquitoes breed posing one of many imminent health risks affecting both the young and the old.
Following the end of apartheid, many unskilled white South Africans, who were probably not even part of the apartheid era, have enjoyed little sympathy from those who believe they profited from the brutal regime.
In light of the above, and with the way the government of this country is dealing with its infrastructure, housing, grants, etc., not much hope is left as time is running out and, if nothing is done to correct the wrongs, not much can be said about a South Africa that once was renowned to be the most beautiful country and the heartbeat of the world.
Struggle stalwart Ahmed Kathrada said: “The fight for non-racialism, equity and equality is not short-term work. But generational work. It requires united effort, and a lifetime of commitment.”