Parallels between US, SA

ANC veteran Mike Xego has called for a picket (why outside The Herald?) to protest about the government’s silence over George Floyd’s brutal death at the hand of policemen in Minneapolis, US.

Many high-profile sport teams and sports people worldwide have “taken the knee” in solidarity with Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement, and rightly so, as racism in all its forms is evil.

But following the riots in the US, the looting, the destruction of businesses and the deaths of innocent people, George Floyd’s memory will be lost in the smoke, literally.

Citizens across the US and the world will, as a result, feel less inclined to support a movement responsible for such wanton destruction.

The parallel is in our own beloved SA. We experience daily service delivery protests across the country. Burning of tyres, looting of shops and stoning of passing vehicles occurs almost all the time.

The media and citizens soon forget about the frustrations of the communities, and focus on the wanton destruction of property and lives.

The reasons for protests by communities who have continued to suffer a lack of service delivery for the last 26 years is lost in the smoke.

Mahatma Gandhi’s peaceful protest and non-violent resistance led to India becoming independent from the British Empire. I doubt he would have been successful if violence was on his agenda.