The Marikana Massacre: Wow, I sit here with this on my mind for days.
This incident has really shaken my inner core, I don’t really know what an inner core is or where it is located, but it has been shaken.
Those disturbing images of machetes, knobbkerries, knives and spears, I sat and stared at the television in disbelief- is this what protesting is resorting to?
Over the last few months, service delivery protests have escalated to a more aggressive level. Like, why is nobody around me talking about this? Is this not disturbing on so many levels?
Oh, or am I supposed to kind of “accept it” or shrug it off and say, “aah, can leave this-go overseas.” This is a mother effing huge problem and I am terrified of what is about to happen, terrified.
This violence is only going to escalate, it is going to be out of the government’s control. I get so pissed off when I think of our government, so pissed off, so mad. The recourses were there! They were there, people don’t need to live in poverty. That person does not NEED to drive that expensive car while the next person goes to bed on an empty stomach. There was no need for that. Municipalities have failed, the infrastructure has failed, too much damage has been made, too many promises have been broken, too much lives disrupted, too much hate and resentment as a result.
One thing is for sure, I do not blame the police one little tiny bit. No, I do not condone police brutality, HOWEVER, if we think about this logically. hundreds of men, armed with dangerous weapons coming towards the police, aggressively, ready for attack. Do people honestly think that those protestors were going to stop, chill and say “what up” to the police? Death would have been the result regardless of the police shooting.
I dare not imagine another version of this story. One thing I know is that peace and order would not have prevailed. How can we blame the police for merely doing their job, and if not their job, think of them as normal human beings defending themselves. Because the only thing that separates the police from the protestors is a little SAP badge.
Indeed, my heart goes out to the families that were affected. I cannot comprehend their pain.
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