Murray swart Living in a pigsty

LIKE many others, I found myself at a loose end yesterday afternoon as I waited for confirmation of Kimberley’s shutdown this week.

With nothing to work on and everything to wait for, I decided to take an aimless drive through the streets of the city, hoping to find something out of the ordinary.

Little caught my attention and, as per usual, our city was dusty and dirty as the only thing out of the ordinary was a gusty wind sweeping where nobody else had in some time.

There was hardly a soul in sight as paper and plastic danced through the air.

Where diamonds once were, broken glass was now strewn throughout, making the ground sparkle, while the horizon took on a shade of reddish brown as many of the lush lawns that were once a feature in our parks and public spaces were no longer there to keep the sand subdued.

As has become the norm, even the ever-popular and once picturesque Oppenheimer Gardens were a sight for sore eyes and yesterday was no exception.

In fact, if anything, yesterday was the worst I’ve ever seen them and I found myself ashamed to call this great city home.

Make no mistake, there was plenty of greenery lying around but this came in the form of beer bottles scattered evenly, as far as the eye could see.

I’m all for street art and believe it should be supported and encouraged but whoever is responsible for the crude tags and graffiti on many of our walls and monuments was no Banksy.

In short, the place looked disgusting. Well, more disgusting than usual, anyway.

I understand that our city has its problems, many of which stem from poor to no service delivery and useless political representatives.

I understand that these gardens are a popular weekend hangout, especially since the university was established.

I understand that it was outside office hours and the place will probably get something of a touch-up today.

I understand that, courtesy of a growing population, there are more people than resources and facilities and our failing infrastructure is simply too inadequate and our numbers too great to keep our city spick and span at all times.

I also understand that many in power are incompetent buffoons, chosen by us, who can’t (or won’t) do there jobs and therefore, couldn’t be bothered to try. Nor are they inclined to make the effort to see to it that those under them do theirs.

These are all aspects of governance that I can understand. The people who should be keeping the place looking like it could aren’t doing what they should. I get it.

However, what I fail to understand is that there was rubbish everywhere except in the few dustbins that were on hand. Those were spotless.

When garbage isn’t collected, we can blame government. When there aren’t enough public toilets available, we can blame government.

When there aren’t enough dustbins available we can blame government.

Even when there are enough dustbins available but these are overflowing, we can blame government.

After all, we pay taxes for a reason and that reason is to be entitled to blame government when they fail to deliver what is expected.

At the same time, when rubbish and bottles line the streets, providing grass-free greenery between empty dustbins, that used to be lawns, government is only partially to blame.

Most of the blame should fall on those who litter. The rest should be shared between those who didn’t.

If we want better we first need to do better and it starts by doing all that we can to look after our city.

Only when we have exhausted all options within our control should we begin to criticize. The bottom line is when you litter and behave like a pig, you can’t blame government if you end up living in a pigsty.