Everyday heroes need support, not disrespect

While the global coronavirus outbreak continues to dominate the news, ordinary people are fighting extraordinary battles within their own communities and schools in SA.

In Cape Town, a man on a mission to clear up litter hotspots in his community is scorned and shunned by his fellow residents.

And teachers are getting a special handbook on how to protect themselves against violent and abusive pupils.

These two stories in the Sunday Times this weekend should give everyone in this country pause for thought.

In the Cape Town township of Delft, 30-year-old Mpendulo Ncubukezi is soldiering on in the face of mockery and derision from the very people he is trying to help by keeping the area clean and rubbish-free.

A few men from the community who were helping him became discouraged and left when, after their hard work to clear it all away, people started dumping their rubbish at these sites again.

Another man who used to help Ncubukezi also gave up eventually after being ridiculed and shunned by the residents.

Why would people make fun of someone who is slogging away, in his own time, at no cost to them or anyone else, to improve their living conditions?

Instead of shaming these unsung heroes, it should motivate us to pitch in to help or at least to each do our part to keep our surroundings clean.

As far as the school violence goes, besides bullying and pupil-on-pupil violence, what teachers have to endure at the hands of pupils these days is a disgrace.

They are being verbally abused, threatened and even attacked by pupils.

Teaching used to be a profession that many young people aspired to be a part of.

Now the violence in some schools is deterring many talented and caring individuals from entering the profession.

The spokesperson for the SA Council of Educators, which has drafted the 124-page handbook for teachers, said the aim is to prevent teachers from feeling they need to arm themselves. Really?

That this has even been a consideration by teachers is cause for concern. We, as parents, need to teach our children to respect their teachers and other authority figures.

These two stories — about the garbage crusader and violence in our schools — are a sad commentary on the state of the nation.