Filling holes and lining pockets
WE LIVE in a country where crime and poverty are the order of the day and for a journalist this ensures that there is never a dull moment. Every day is a learning experience as no two are ever alike.
In this profession, you really get to see the best and worst of humanity. You are given an insight into the lives of South Africans from all walks of life and you quickly learn that there is no such thing as a typical day.
Our country and its people are full of surprises and there is no quicker way to learn this than by assuming, predicting or expecting anything, only to be proven completely wrong.
Never seek the best or the worst of the people around you as South Africans are masters at exceeding either extremity.
Working with all the blood, guts, gore and grossness quickly leaves you desensitised, cynical and a little crazy, as can be expected when most mornings begin with a certain level of confusion as to exactly which alleged child molester, named Rudi, from Barkly
West, will be appearing in the magistrate’s court that morning.
Sadly, a certain level of anonymity presents itself in numbers in the capital of “rape and suip”, in a country with offensively impressive crime stats.
In this environment and context, where horror is the order of the day, it becomes increasingly more difficult to be left shocked and appalled and easier to justify and normalise the atrocious.
While objectivity is encouraged, it is often all but impossible not to take offence when you are surrounded by what can only be described as evil, selfish, psychotic and unnatural.
However, the day you pick up the paper and don’t get upset by its content is the day to change career paths.
As per usual, yesterday’s edition of the DFA was full of the usual shockers. There is an old expression in media circles that if it bleeds it leads and while many vehemently deny their fascination with the macabre and question why good news stories don’t get prioritised, there is no denying that blood and guts sells.
In our Thursday paper, it wasn’t the largely self-inflicted crisis faced by our
Health Department that got me worked up, nor was it the violence at our primary schools. It wasn’t even the ongoing disruptions of classes at SPU, nor was it the abundance of violence.
Unlike most other days, it wasn’t an article of any kind that left me livid but rather an advert.
Like many others, I took exception to an ad taken out by the Sol Plaatje Municipality, wishing our executive mayor, Mangaliso Matika, a very happy birthday.
As journalists, we see where the taxpayers’ money is going. We see it filling holes and lining pockets as the misappropriation and misallocation of funds is a daily bone of contention.
Yesterday’s page six is a classic case in point, as highlighting that Matika will be looking after the elderly by providing them with water and sanitation, as his job requires, cost us taxpayers thousands of rands.
Granted, this cash goes towards paying my salary but I cannot agree with the municipality’s decision to take out this advert when that money could have actually made a tangible difference in the lives of some of the areas most vulnerable and destitute.
As one reader, so rightly pointed out, this was a case where doing good took a back seat to looking good and I sincerely hope that this shameful, unnecessary and wasteful publicity stunt is seen for what it really is and backfires.
There is a saying that no good deed should go unpunished but when noble acts are so few and far between that they need to be advertised, it may be time to re-evaluate who has control of the purse strings.