Unrest highlighted desperate need for unity

The unrest outbreak left many questioning if we are a rainbow nation. A lot of people lost their lives, others were injured and had their homes torched in Khan Road informal settlement in Raisethorpe.

The alleged racially motivated attacks proved that there is no unity among communities, regardless the colour of one’s skin. The unrest, which culminated in a fire that claimed the lives of three Khan Road informal settlement residents, left survivors asking, “Senzeni na?” (What have we done?)

The July riots also revealed a deep mistrust in one another. This led to the African National Congress (ANC) national chairperson Gwede Mantashe paying Pietermaritzburg a visit, where he urged communities to remain calm and not be driven by hate.

During that visit, it was heart-breaking to see the survivors trying to pick up the pieces without a clue of where to start. Sorrow and devastation was written in the eyes of these victims as they had to start from scratch after losing everything. Most of them are from far areas and stay in these shacks to be close to their jobs and save money to support their families.

Being part of the meeting Mantashe attended made me shed a tear due to what residents were sharing. One of the dwellers, Zinhle Ngcobo, asked for forgiveness for whatever wrong they did.

“If we have done something wrong, we would like to ask for forgiveness. We have lost this battle. We are even scared of staying in those shacks now. In these shacks, we are happy. In those shacks, there was love and we had our children. All we ask for is forgiveness,” said Ngcobo.

The riots instilled fear of the unknown into residents. It was scary to see residents barricading roads protecting their livelihoods. Looters were stealing without thinking of the outcome of their actions. Roads were packed with people asking for lifts to transport their stolen goods. The petrol shortage also made life difficult for us as reporters as we are required to go around and inform the public about what is happening.

What we experienced during the unrest taught me that peace must not be taken for granted. Sometimes peace can be fragile. We must interact and engage with each other, and act out of love.

The only way we can do that is to make sure that, as a community, we do things together. We must learn to understand each other.