OPINION: Whereas the trigger for the recent riots and looting was the arrest of the former president, Jacob Zuma, the underlying, deep structural problem is deepening inequality, which has been worsened by Covid-19 pandemic, writes Somadoda Fikeni.
Current investigations, community watch clubs and the presence of security forces is an immediate response to manage this crisis, but it is not sustainable, hence the need to deal with underlying issues between neighbouring communities - especially those predominantly representative of different racial groups.
South Africa’s democratic transition that commenced in 1994 was meant to end the legacy of colonial/apartheid racial inequality and injustice through the creation of a just, non-racial, prosperous, inclusive and united society, as articulated and codified in the preamble of our 1996 Constitution. It did not take long before South Africa’s democratic experiment faltered and took a detour. The ruling political class started to suffer from the “sins of incumbency” and social distance between leaders and people widened, arrogance of power, corruption and patronage network entrenchment, crass materialism, obsession with factional battles and party affairs over national interests became a defining feature of a floundering democratic project.
3. Resentment, resistance and reconciliation: Those most disadvantaged by the social and economic ills as well as leadership crises generally respond through resentment and resistance, thus pushing reconciliation further down as people insist on peace with justice. Racial incidents or attacks around the country have also produced similar racial tensions, as we saw on the beaches of Cape Town, the racial incidents in schools, tensions around farm murders and treatment of farm workers, racial discrimination in corporates such as the Clicks store incident.
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