Warning! This article is intended to be disgusting. It contains words and thoughts that may offend. And thus hopefully achieve its purpose.
When the current litany of murder, (and rape), is offered in the media, then my familiar, an ugly black dog, starts howling and slobbering behind me. This dog I know well; for many a year a licker of my heels. In winter I eat chocolates and burn bright lights to get him to keep his distance, in summer he fades a bit. Sometimes. He swallowed my sister.
The senselessness and irrationality of it all eludes me. (As if there are sensible and rational rapes and murders; he cynically berates himself). Just trying to make some sense out of a country gone mad, I took to the internet. Google, my faithful friend, served a rich dish of violence, murder, mayhem, death in all forms, blatant extinction of life, killing, butchery, slaughter, carnage, homicide and genocide.
Oh yes, on the internet it can be found in abundance and in fine graphic and detailed description, in well defined pixelated form and for the cognoscenti, in full stereo.
It did not escape me that high on the results page was, as expected, “farm murders”. All 4 000+, committed from 1994 to 2012. The pictures referred to by various individuals were all there, in montage and rolling banner form.
A bit of search reveals, (though sans the in-your-face visuals), that in the period 1948 – 1994, 21 000 black people were murdered, (of which 14 000 were in the 1990 – 1994 ‘politically violent’ years). 13 500 by blacks and 7 500 by whites. Neat parcelled and presented by various sources, even quoted by the TRC.
The ANC on their website claim that in the 33 years of exile, 943 members were killed, of which 7 by mutiny, 55 in accidents, 395 of natural causes, 45 by suicide and 34 were executed by tribunal. This left 407 killed on active duty. (They did add a proviso that there may be many more of which they cannot yet, even after 20 years of liberation, account for). Which should not be debated.
Condensed, it means on average that our politically home based violent deaths prior to ’94 were just more than 1 a day, of which nearly 10 a day were killed in the latter 4 years. Exiles were on a 1 a month rate.
We are now supposed to be living in peace, the new Utopia, the Bad Old Days are behind us. We are walking on the Yellow Brick Road; we entered Canaan nearly 20 years ago. The Golden Era of the Black Landau with Blue Lights, the Armani, The Breitling, The Bunker and Freedom has dawned. We have thrown the shackles of Oppression from our arms and legs and we are looking back and are amazed at what we achieved. The matric pass rate is up and inflation down.
How can one thus get the question asked, and more importantly, answered:
~SHOUT~ “Compared to the worst of times or instances in our history, how can one sleep peacefully in 2013, with 43 people being killed every day?”
Is the number 43 a mark on the gauge of failed states? Is it an indictment, a finger pointing at apathy, a shout against ideological priorities overriding the care and concern about citizens? Is the siren song of money and power drowning the call of the real ubuntu? The blood of the innocent greasing the slope towards the abyss?
And now we want to make a change with ceremonies and communion, prayers and probes, chants and commissions, spells and speeches about creams and colour?
Which leaves me more depressed than ever....
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