Sand artist: Soft power was needed

MICHAEL MYEKWA did not have a busking permit to create sand sculptures and receive gifts from appreciative strollers.

In a caring city such as ours, a healthy dose of ubuntu, not heavyhandedness, would have sorted out the problem. City law enforcement officers, who initially applauded him for his work, should have acted as good Samaritans to resolve his permit problem.

The principle of batho pele, introduced by the Mandela administration, encourages government officials to be both facilitators and enforcers of the law. Otherwise citizens will be inclined to agree with Mr Bumble in Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist, that the law is often “a ass – a idiot”. Many would have perceived the destruction of Myekwa’s labour of love which prejudiced his right to put bread on the table in that way. It was soft power that was needed.

The purpose of all rules and all laws is to make our humanity manifest so that justice prevails for all and society can cohere. A proper rules-based society is never heartless.

Furthermore, we in South Africa should make ubuntu our own on all occasions. We must consistently strive to show that ubuntu has relevance by openly acknowledging that we are the good we are because of the positive and wholesome influence of others who preceded us. When ubuntu is eroded and the law is seen as a veritable ass, lawlessness envelops us all.

Our constitution-makers demanded that South Africa, after the malignant role of the apartheid police force, should create a police service and not another police force asserting brute force. Our city officials should have been seen as helping Myekwa get his permit rather than destroyers of his highly appreciated art.