Proper communication is the answer

I NOTICE that South Africans still refuse to resolve disputes in a mature and adult manner.

The season of burning and looting as a means of demonstrating annoyance or anger has started early this year.

Every day one reads and hears about violent protests throughout the country, sparked by various issues.

On Monday we had it on our doorstep, with protesters setting tyres on fire and blocking roads because they want answers about the spending of a multi-million rand community donation by a local company.

As elsewhere in the country, the protesters perhaps have good reason to question things or voice their unhappiness about service delivery and so on, but surely these can be addressed through proper negotiations.

And if answers are still not forthcoming at local level, there are other structures through which aggrieved parties can work to resolve things.

This tendency to simply go on a slash and burn outing for every little dispute must stop.

It is costing the country’s economy millions - if not billions - of rands and disrupts the lives of ordinary citizens.

It is time for the hot heads to grow up.

And it is also time for companies, government departments or municipalities to wake up and ensure proper proactive communication, which will go a long way towards limiting violent protests.

SIMON SAYS