Soccer fields and beading workshops not the answer
THE daily dynamics of this city at times, make no sense. At night the rich go out and play while the poor workers like your domestic have to endure a three-hour journey to get home, only to collapse on her bed and sleep for a few hours before she starts all over again.
From the luxury and beauty of a six-bedroom, four-bathroom house to a shack with an outside communal toilet.
Politicians still have the time to engage in power struggles while the real issues get no attention at all.
The “Space” – the new place for the homeless will be officially open soon. I wonder if mayor Patricia de Lille will attend the opening. I don’t count on it.
We are quick to shift the blame and responsibilities of what goes on in our communities on to the police, and other authorities. We say the lack of security officers is to blame for the crimes committed.
Nonsense! Many parents should be more proactive in the daily doings of their kids. This turning a blind eye and then a year later some cry “my boy was not a member of a gang” while he always had the latest this and that and shoes only the rich can afford.
Wake up! How can a 9-year-old be on Tik but you as a parent have no idea?
While we on the subject of drugs: much of the violence, rape, abuse, etc gets blamed on drugs. So let’s lock up all the users and by doing that you think your neighbourhood is once again safe and sound.
Nope. It is the neglect from those we voted into power, the lack of social support, work opportunities, the lack of decent infrastructure and pastors losing the plot that is the main cause of the shabby state of some communities.
Every human being needs a sense of belonging. And the lack thereof forces some to join gangs. Not because they are criminals. Rich children join the scouts…
Big businesses are bulldozing areas like Woodstock where a scoop of ice cream sets you back about R30. A cup of coffee costs about R22.
The people who have been living there for generations can’t afford to buy anything. People from the outside come to browse and do shopping and then they leave again. There are few locals who shop here.
Alcohol and drug abuse are fuelled by the lack of many other social commodities we need, as people, to enjoy a well-balanced, productive existence. Please, another soccer field or beading workshop is not the answer!
People need to work: to earn, to have responsibilities, to provide, to share. Having no work is like living opposite a cemetery and every day you wake up and look outside, and remind yourself that one day you will end up there…
Some people are in such dire circumstances that drinking and drugging is the only way to rid themselves of reality.
(masekind321@gmail.com)