[imagesource: Reuters / Rogan Ward]

After a week of horrendous videos and scenes playing out on live TV, there has been a calm start to the week.

Some of the worst affected areas in KwaZulu-Natal have seen malls reopening, and police efforts to recover looted goods are underway.

At the same time, any talk of life returning to normal only applies to a privileged section of South African society (Mercedes driving looters included), and the situation remains dire for those who already had so little to lose.

If you’re tired of reading about the looting and destruction, which is understandable, then I would recommend one final story on the matter.

Writing for The Daily Maverick, Tshabalira Lebakeng is a journalist who lives in Orlando. He has recounted his struggle to find food last week, but it’s really a story of the daily struggles faced by large majority of South African citizens.

It’s depressing, as stories related to this human tragedy tend to be, so prepare yourself.

I’ll pick a few moments out to get the ball rolling:

Before I got to the garage, I passed two freezing old ladies with their shopping bags. They wore big coats and scarves with warm hats. They asked me if I knew if the post office was open. They needed to get their Sassa social grants. I told them nothing seemed open. No banks, no shops, no post office.

The one old lady looked at me and said: “My son, this is the end of South Africa. I don’t know what I am going to do with my grandchildren. Their mother left them with me. I don’t know where she is in this world. Now at my age, I’m suffering.”

From there, during his search for food, Lebakeng encounters a man who says he has plenty to sell.

The man says he had to do what it takes to survive, and pointed the finger of blame at our government:

“They take billions and billions of money and we have no electricity or water. But politicians are living a nice and soft life.

“So you telling me that by looting for my life I am the one doing a wrong thing? We are starving. The whole world is falling down. The rich get richer and poor people they are starving in their homes,” he said.

I really didn’t know what to say to this man so I just told him that one day it will be okay and we must pray to God to help us.

“God left South Africa long ago,” he said.

When you read about large-scale looting daily, with numbers that range well into the billions of rands, and no repercussions, this is what happens.

It’s desperate people, in desperate times, and there is no way out.

I would highly recommend reading Lebakeng’s full article here, for a sense of perspective.

Then, rather than throw in the towel, consider ways you can enact change.

For one thing, you can vote, and you can encourage others to vote. Registration can now be done online.

It’s not much, but it’s just about the only way we get to hold our leaders accountable.

[source:dailymaverick]