Removing barriers crucial for rebuilding

THE rampant looting and acts of vigilantism that dotted parts of Kwa Zulu-Natal last week point to the lack of leadership in some communities.

Communities that stopped looting from taking place in their neighbourhoods are being lauded for preventing shopping malls and areas from being looted or set alight. They have contributed to ensuring food security in these areas, whereas in areas where looting and destruction took place, food security is tenuous, at best.

At the same time, vigilantism in some communities has seen innocent people targeted, and the horrific stories are slowly being revealed. The leadership vacuum in these communities led to community members taking up the initiative to protect themselves.

In some incidents vigilantes became judge, jury and executioner and, as invariably is the case with kangaroo courts, innocent people became victims of anxiety, panic and tension. This has become a source of racial tension.

With the breakdown of law and order and with the police and security forces being caught off-guard, the actions of a few had repercussions for many. In the middle of the looting and destruction, close to 50 schools in the province have been damaged.

This is apart from the estimated R15 billion in damage to infrastructure, R1.5bn in loss or damage of stock and tens of thousands of jobs that were lost. South Africa, which was in the middle of an economic crisis before the riots, will struggle to rebuild with such monumental economic losses.

Communities that have been tense since the looting began need to assess how they will move forward. This must be done through communication, and exclusivity must be abandoned as this has been a source of historic and current tensions. Barriers need to be removed, literally and figuratively, for any healing to take place.