[imagesource: AFP]

Sorry in advance.

I would love to bury my head in the sand and avoid talking about the state of this country, but that’s not always an option.

Feel free to exit stage left if you don’t want to go down this road, or just need a break from all of the negativity.

That last bit is important – it’s tempting to doom scroll in times like these, but stepping away now and again is healthy.

Right, with that out of the way, let’s turn to The Daily Maverick’s Richard Poplak, who has a way with words when it comes to talking about desperate and dire situations.

His latest column is headlined “This is what a failed state looks like”, and it’s tough to argue on that front.

In we go:

Stupidity like this deserves a standing ovation. Sadly, South Africa is on its knees. Entire communities have been razed, but more significantly – at least for those trying to calculate what the future might hold – the violence has targeted vital nodes of distribution.

…make no mistake, there is a plan. The trouble in KZN is much more than a political protest or a spontaneous statement of local anguish. Under the cover of Zuma’s jailing, this was a large, local gangster network flexing its muscles…

That seems to be very much the case, with Zuma’s ‘private spy’, Thulani Dlomo, a prime suspect.

One step forward, and many backward:

…as the “war against corruption” makes nominal gains by jailing former presidents and humiliating the ANC’s D-team in court, the fight for control of the gangster economy becomes commensurately vicious. There is nothing to lose and everything to gain by torching the country…

These new racketeering alliances are the future of South Africa: the gangster economy has become fully integrated into the remnants of the “real” economy. Hoods, assassins, ex-spooks and drug dealers are now partners at the table.

It no longer matters how much a CEO bench-presses, or how many minutes he dedicates to Mandela Day, or how much viognier his wine farm produces. A new age is upon us.

Some of the most disheartening activity on social media has pushed a race divide, with accusations and counter-accusations of violence targeting certain groups.

The deployment of SANDF forces will most likely result in civilian casualties, as it has in the past, which will further erode the public’s almost non-existent trust in law enforcement, led by the cripplingly inept Bheki Cele and National Police Commissioner, Khehla Sitole.

Then there’s President Ramaphosa, “the weakest ANC leader in the party’s modern history”:

The current civil unrest will be held up as proof of his incompetence, and it will cost a fortune in both cash and political capital for him to retain his post [as ANC leader]. The assertion that he’s a shoo-in is laughable…

The security cluster is in such chaos that Ramaphosa may have to take control of the SANDF himself. This is the destiny of most tinpot presidencies.

I did warn you that it was depressing stuff.

You can read Poplak’s full column here.

In times like these, and as an all too regular coping mechanism, South Africans often turn to humour.

That being said, I almost punched the screen when I saw this article yesterday, headlined “WATCH | LOL!”:

What the f*ck is funny about any of this?

After a massive backlash online, the headline has since been changed to “WATCH | 14 moments from the looting that had Mzansi shaking their heads“.

By the way, the video featuring the cake eater:

He takes the cake! pic.twitter.com/vpzHynQxGZ

— Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) July 12, 2021

This is where we’re at now, and have been for the past four days.

[source:dailymav]