By Editorial
The Umkhonto weSizwe Military veterans took to the streets of Durban on Tuesday where violent riots erupted and police ended up using rubber bullets on protesters.
According to reports, protesters clashed with police as they continued to shut down foreign-owned businesses, demanding their owners leave the country.
MK Vets have accused foreign nationals of taking jobs from locals and leaving South Africans hungry and in distress.
One of the protesters, who was interviewed by the media, said: “Before they (foreigners) came to this country, we were not this hungry; our people were working, our people had income and there were not a huge number of drugs. They have destroyed our country and our youth are deep into drugs because of them.”
This points to a long and systemic problem as the issue at hand has the potential to ripple over into the other provinces if the government does not come to the party to address it.
Dismissing issues affecting the poorest of the poor in the country as just another xenophobic incident will not make the problems facing our communities go away.
The fact is that many of the people involved in protests of this nature are the downtrodden, the forgotten ones who have no food, no running water, no homes and no jobs to help pull them out of the economic doldrums.
This is the sad reality of many MK veterans who fought against the apartheid regime. They left their lives and their families to help bring down a system whose effects are still felt to this day. Violence and brazen displays of public looting are sadly never an option and if this situation is allowed to persist, it may end up spilling into other parts of the country, and, when that happens, it will be too late.
Government must act now to eradicate poverty and unemployment as well as invest in social cohesion initiatives which will positively integrate foreign nationals into our black communities.
Over 60% of the youth in South Africa are unemployed and those who have turned to a life of crime because of the government’s ineptitudes will pull the trigger of the revolver that will lead the country down to the pits of anarchy.
Our government must stand up and nip this situation in the bud before it all comes tumbling down.
The Star