Wanton acts of destruction in the name of protest shame us all

The destruction of public property to express political or social views is one of the most backward forms of expression to ever be experienced in a democracy. I remember that in the olden days when we had every reason to burn down buildings that represented oppression we were selective in doing so and such destruction was usually the exception not the norm. As a student of one of the most volatile universities, Turfloop, I remember vividly the kind of militant protests that we used to stage then warranting the army to have a permanent base on campus for years. But I struggle to remember us burning down the library, our residences or even the residence of the rector seen by many as enemy number one.

Lately it is common-place for students of North-West University in Mafikeng to regularly burn down their residences and other similar facilities that they complain are rare. They burned down the gate in a protest that talked about the doors of learning being “open to all”. By burning down the gate maybe they were trying to make the point about such access but ironically such actions only serve to close down the gate for many needy students who will henceforth not afford the exorbitant fees as a result of money being wasted on repairs.

The other unacceptable practice that has emerged is the burning down of trains. In the apartheid era some of the worst trains transported people to and from our townships. There were very few incidents of those shambolic trains being burned down when maybe there was reason to do so. Trains have been notorious for running late for years on end. No one has ever used such a reason to burn them down. The people who burned them down will have the inconvenience of having to look for alternative mode of transportation. Maybe they will burn down the BRT since it kicked off its debut by being hours late. This is silly. Do not take away the fact that communities are frustrated. But for heaven’s sake how does burning down a public facility in this barbaric manner help the course of freedom?

The same goes for the looting of shops during marches. I can understand a riot in the middle of Cape Town following Chris Hani’s murder in 1993 when shops were trashed in what can be described as civil unrest. But how do we explain the looting of a super market a few weeks after the fourth democratic election, when you are protesting against a mayor? This is pure opportunism that gives the right to protest a bad name. I have been part of protest action before where I have done some maverick things but for God’s sake the target was not the new democratic order that we all worked so hard for but to embarrass an enemy that did not care a hoot about the dignity of our people.

None of these things mean that people must not protest. None of it means we can’t explain it. Explain it as people taking the cue from leaders who don’t respect the rule of law, who swear at judges and similar institutions … yes this is a result of a valueless society, where at the highest levels of government there is institutional criminality. Where MPs get away with open theft of the public purse and guilty people are celebrated as heroes … these are the true sources of this lawlessness BUT it does not make these acts less abhorrent, it does not justify our communities turning against themselves … robbing themselves of facilities that are rare and that they probably waited 15 years for. It’s unacceptable. It’s a shame on the legacies of our ancestors who fought so that we can be free. Such freedom is not free — we had to pay a price for it and these wanton acts disgrace it so.

Now as if that is not enough the army joins in this habit. Who will guard the borders when these soldiers are busy attacking the seat of government? I have no words quite frankly. One wonders who is next. The MPs maybe, the Cabinet, the clerics, the traditional leaders? Who will remain behind to switch off the lights when our country goes down?

The poverty of leadership in our unions must also be faulted for this. On the eve of the municipal strike, the general secretary of the municipal workers union stated with glee that “there will be an aroma in our streets” encouraging the workers to trash the streets in protest instead of calling on members to be disciplined. Once the streets were trashed and the communities expressed their disgust the same fellow was on television with a straight face saying there is no indication that those who trashed the streets were members of his union. Of course he can tell that to the birds. It is this poverty of leadership and a growing template of populist leadership that fans the fuel of disorder. The leaders of the union for soldiers, whatever it is called, are now spending time searing at their commander — the minister of defence. They have not said a convincing sentence to condemn the throwing of a petrol bomb at the seat of government. While a member or two can get away with being disorderly, how do we hope to get the country right if union leaders don’t have the courage to face their members and call them to order?

Finally without sounding like a broken DVD. Government has to take responsibility to lead us in rewriting the script of our times. For example take the nurses strike a while ago. The government supposedly fired the nurses who left patients for dead. They later reversed such action and “converted” the letters to a warning. So I take with a bag full of salt the so-called hard line and discharge of soldiers who threatened our national security. Are we gonna see their firing also converted to a meaningless warning? It is this lack of backbone by authorities that give communities the impression that you can break the law and get away with it. I like Minister Sisulu’s calm manner and fixed determination and hope she acts accordingly. At the same time I hope that rumours that she has not bothered to meet the unions are not true.