Mitchells Plain is showing the way, Sakhile not so much

Two Mitchells Plain CPF members gunned down and the community vows to keep on fighting crime.

Imagine, if you will, that communities all over followed this example. That being, instead of moaning and bitching about Malema, ministerial cars, police being given the green light for deadly force, construction of WIDER roads, people decided to take a more pro-active role in their lives.

It is a heavy enough step to get a community to front up to armed violent thugs armed with nothing but a resolute conscience. Another to keep on the good fight in light of deadly retaliation from the forces that seek to tear communities apart.

I say more than just standing idly by and applauding this we should all get involved in our neighbourhoods and be part of the solution.

On the Sakhile protests, I have a lot of sympathy for people who see their dreams of a prosperous future under a democratic government come to naught while the very people they elected into office grow ever fatter on the public purse.

I also have a lot of respect for communities who stand up and speak out when they are unhappy instead of the aforementioned bitter grumbling in coffee shops. Democracy is after all about action and active participation.

But when a legitimate grumble is used as a cover for thuggery and anarchy of the highest order, I cannot see myself lending my support. Where is the logic in burning down community amenities? How does that further your cause? It is exactly the kind of mind-numbing idiocy that leads to fat-cat politicians feeling justified in not engaging with the people at grassroots level. What motive is there for government/greater society to lend an ear to anarchists?

If I was a corporate looking to engage in some community-service projects I’d go a long way before engaging with a community that collectively figures blocking nurses from going to work in that very community is something to be done.

I do hope that there will be a speedy and lasting resolution to the standoff in Sakhile, South Africa can ill afford another Khutsong, but the community needs to get its own house in order as well.