Share

The micro can fix the macro

accreditation
Mondli Makhanya
Mondli Makhanya

From time to time, a message drops into my inbox that lifts my spirits and takes me away from the mishmash around me. And then there will be that one that will push me deeper into depression.

Early this week, I received one of the latter variety. The email, from Kabelo, spoke of one of those now-familiar wild township funerals.

Kabelo wrote that he had been attending a funeral last weekend when a squadron of 500 bikers, who were obviously there to send off one of their own, drowned out the burial he was attending with their “big horsepower machines”.

“The Harleys & BMWs [were] in competition to see whose bike could emit the biggest roar while we were trying, by all means, to have a decent and dignified sendoff on our side,” wrote Kabelo.

According to Kabelo, the bikers took over the public road, blocking off all other funeral processions, as they gave themselves “the freedom of the cemetery”.

As a result of this disruption, the usual 15-minute trip to Soweto’s Slovoville Cemetery took up to 90 minutes.

“This did not go down well with everyone, since we all came for the same purpose of bidding farewell, with dignity and last respects, to whomsoever we came to bury,” he wrote.

What was frustrating and infuriating to him was the conspicuous absence of law enforcement officers as the standoff between the rowdy bikers and others nearly descended into fist fights and the exchange of gunfire.

Apparently, one metro police vehicle “didn’t spend even five minutes on the scene before leaving for its preferred place of deployment, maybe the nearest chisanyama or favourite tree”.

When reinforcements arrived, the “bullies” had long left, taking their chaos elsewhere.

One can bet that the scene Kabelo was witnessing was playing out in many other townships throughout the country, where the solemn ritual of saying a final goodbye has been denuded of all dignity.

If it is not gunshots being fired into the air, then it is liquor being poured over the coffin and sometimes drugs being sprinkled into the grave. The spinning and setting alight of cars in cemeteries has become commonplace, as has the open consumption of mind-altering substances.

While Kabelo was witnessing this travesty, several families in Durban’s KwaMashu township were mourning loved ones who had overdosed on a drug called Mercedes. The dead included schoolchildren who had been celebrating the end of the school term.

More than 30 other families were making daily treks to hospitals to see other pupils who had fallen victim to this deadly drug, which has joined the likes of nyaope and whoonga in the deadly biological warfare arsenal in the hands of the criminal element.

In a heartrending interview on East Coast Radio, Zodwa Mngadi, the grandmother of one of the dead children, revealed how the boy’s parents had tried to rush him to the local clinic after being told of his condition.

“They got a lift to the clinic and when they arrived there, the doctor asked them why they had brought a dead person to him. These children do not listen. I had been warning Siyabonga [the deceased] about partying, but I didn’t know that he used ecstasy,” said the grief-stricken grandmother.

All around the country, cheap, deadly drugs are ravaging the minds and lives of young people. They are fuelling social ills such as rape, violent crime and unwanted pregnancies.

The drugs are called innocuous names like data, rice, Mercedes, biscuit and casket. The varying concoctions of deadly ingredients are said to include a performance-enhancing drug for race horses, something that enables users to dance all night.

It is telling that the horrific deaths of the youngsters – just like other similar tragedies – occupy our attention for a nanosecond before we return to the big battle for the control of the country’s direction. We are becoming inured to the symptoms of social dysfunction and we focus on the bigger issues rather than those that hit us in the face.

It is logical that we should do so. The bigger issues are about the life and death of the republic. These matters will determine whether those who run the country are able to grow the economy and employment, provide quality education, secure neighbourhoods and generally improve the lives of the people. The macro will fix the micro, so the thinking goes.

But we ignore the micro at our peril. The incidents referred to speak of a societal breakdown. The one relates to a breakdown in social mores, and the other is a physical and dangerous breakdown in the conduct of members of society.

So it is necessary that we do not only obsess about avoiding ratings downgrades. There are everyday challenges that undermine the lives of South Africans and imperil their futures in a real and immediate way.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Do you believe that the various planned marches against load shedding will prompt government to bring solutions and resolve the power crisis?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes
21% - 103 votes
No
79% - 392 votes
Vote