Desperation in action
THE issuing of green cards to certain people and not others by a community policing forum sector in Worcester has sparked an unsurprising racial tirade from various quarters in this country.
That this “security idea” was even implemented in the first place is a sign of the desperation quickly enveloping South Africans.
It is a grim reminder of the unacceptable levels of crime, unemployment, inequality and racism in our country and the dismal failure of government to mitigate these aspects of our lives.
Issuing the green cards was a desperate but totally unacceptable effort by a community considering our segregated past characterised by the inhuman control of movement. It was almost as desperate as when people practise mob justice and round up suspected criminals and murder them.
Some may think that with the green card system nobody gets murdered. But that may be simply because the system has not been allowed to take root – and rightly so. As soon as we think it is all right for citizens to have to carry green cards, it is matter of time before the situation erupts and someone is killed.
Considerations of race are of no use if we are to tackle crime effectively. At the end of the day we should all be aware as citizens of how our government is failing us, not just a specific section of the population.
Crime is brutal across all divides. It takes lives and devalues people across society.
However, we cannot pretend that what happened in the past has nothing to do with crime. In the past a section of the population was deliberately “kept” as cheap, unskilled labour – and this has come back to bite us.
And it is unwise to think we can continue to keep a section of society as a cheap, unskilled labour pool in an economy which progressively needs skilled, smart and creative participants.
At the same time, we should not see it as necessary to take away from others in an effort to address the past. Actually if this happens it is a demonstration of the philosophy of crime.
Ultimately it is the government, as leader of society, that must lead the way in facilitating skills training for people so our country can grow. Its failure to provide protection for all citizens by not proactively doing this, setting in place measures that will counteract a climate of desperation, providing the necessary infrastructure and creating an environment in which truly entrepreneurial ventures can naturally provide solutions, products and jobs, are what is guaranteeing the prevalence of crime.
When government fails this way, unnecessary tensions develop among citizens. And when desperation sets in people quickly revert to familiar ideas, however foolish they may be.
Unfortunately we are all too familiar with racially tinted explanations and views of our world. So, instead of moving away from our painful racially segregated past, in moments of desperation we revert to an “us” versus “them” approach.
This is a zero sum game that can only end in futile conflict. If government is failing all of us, then all of us, as citizens, must collectively call government to order. Any notions of “us” being better than “them” is primitive and unproductive!