George Floyd killing resonates with South Africans

THE killing of George Floyd, a black man from Minneapolis who suffocated by the knee of a white police officer in the US, has been a catalyst for a worldwide call for an end to (racism-fuelled) police brutality. Floyd’s death has resulted in unprecedented protests that have lasted more than a week in all 50 states in the US, with more than 140 cities across the country taking part.

To think that people are placing their lives at the risk of Covid-19 infection to march is a sign that they were at the end of their tether.

For many, there is little or no choice but to demonstrate.

If Covid-19 doesn’t kill you, the chances of being killed by the police will always be there anyway.

London, Paris, Sydney, Berlin and many cities joined the Black Lives Matter movement in its protest against the state-sponsored violence meted out to black people across the world. South Africa too has its fair share of shameful incidents of police brutality.

On Good Friday, Collins Khosa was killed allegedly at the hands of SANDF members. Inquiry into his death has exonerated the members involved.

During apartheid, scenes where unarmed people were shot on their back fleeing from the police were common – Sharpeville massacre being one of them.

Even with black leaders at the levers of power, little has changed with our police force. Marikana is another painful example.

Still today the sight of a police van only helps to instill fear in many townships. The sight of the same van implants assurance and safety for those who are not black.

Recently, lockdown restrictions were used by the police and the SANDF to humiliate – through forced push-ups and other forms of exercise – black people who were deemed to have broken the rules.

Those were just lucky ones, some were hit with a rifle and kicked on their ribs.

This is why the outrage from Floyd’s death resonates with so many across the world.