DR WALLACE MGOQI
Durban — From the very turn of the century, it became clear that, because we were in haste to open our gates for all to come into the country, as a gesture of reciprocity to the countries that hosted our exiled compatriots, we were going to reach a boiling point.
Twenty-eight years now since then, things have reached a boiling point, indeed.
For years now we have been advocating for co-operation between and among levels of government, as well as the private sector and civil society, in designing a common approach to the problem of rural-urban migration, as well as migration from other countries.
We championed that this should be accompanied by a focused attention on building infrastructure in those locations where people come from, that would hold the people down to the ground – but it all fell on deaf ears.
We never advocated that this would stop the worldwide phenomenon of rural-urban migration, but that it would mitigate it and somehow slow it down, from galloping as it is doing presently.
Even experiments that were started to point to the significance of co-operation between a city like Cape Town with Mthatha, in the Eastern Cape, where most of the people come from, were discouraged, in the belief that the city is self-contained and the use of its resources must be limited to its residents, not beyond its area of jurisdiction.
This was clearly a short-sighted view of the situation, as under no circumstances could anyone on its own, or any city, or country for that matter, deal with migration in isolation.
It was a short-sighted view because now it is those very ratepayers who suffer all kinds of inconveniences arising from this very problem.
Only now, do we hear that the City is calling for a national convention to devise a strategy that would involve all role-players.
Not only are national role-players required, but also the role-players falling under the jurisdiction of the AU, in all its regional structures. Otherwise, the human rights instruments that guarantee safety and security for the citizens will sound hollow, as is the case domestically right now in our country.
At a dinner celebrating the 70 years of the establishment of Premier Fishing (bought from white hands in 1998, by Dr Iqbal Survé in the Sekunjalo Group), I was sitting next to a woman, who related a tragic story of her friend.
She has been an athlete and jogging is her lifetime hobby, until she was confronted by three men wielding knives and who threatened to stab her. She escaped narrowly, but was left traumatised by the experience, such that she is undergoing trauma counselling.
Now, this is an individual and we know from media reports and TV broadcasts that the levels of crime in South Africa have reached a boiling point.
There are hundreds and thousands of our athletes of all sports codes who find themselves in this predicament and end up giving up their sport. Imagine the impact of this on national events like the Two Oceans Marathon, and the Comrades Marathon, and other events that attract athletes from around the world. What is their future, if athletes are going to find it difficult to train for their competitions.
So is the plight of cyclists as well, who are easy targets of criminals. They, too, die in our streets, in large enough numbers, not so much from accidents, but by being attacked by people with criminal intents. They need their safety and security guaranteed, and it can only happen, when the next person has a source of livelihood, and does not have to prey on their fellow men.
What we overlook is the fact that the people who are unemployed, and end up making make-shift shelters for themselves wherever they can, also have to eat every day, like all of us. So every day from the time they open their eyes, until they close them to sleep, they plan as to how they are going to survive that day, even if it means depriving a person to get something from them, to enable them to get food, they will do it.
No amount of policing, no amount of street cameras or any such law-enforcement measures, or even imprisonment, are going to deter them, or stop them, as the instinct to survive is stronger than any of these things.
As Father Trevor Huddleston said years ago: “A tsotsi is a symbol of a society that does not care.”
We have become that society today, that does not care, and sadly so. Over the years we have sowed the wind, and are now reaping the whirlwind.
Now that the penny has dropped those in authority, among other things, must look at what other countries have done who faced similar problems, as this is a universal problem.
Recently, I wrote about the experience of a country like Taiwan, which built, among others, road infrastructure that made commuting between rural areas and the city, so easy and seamless. This was done to reverse the rural-urban push to a point where the young generation now enjoys being in the city for five days, but spend the weekend in the rural home.
The rural landscape was also changed by creating infrastructure that would create liveable human settlements as well as jobs and livelihoods, such that people have a choice whether or not to migrate, as against having no alternative, as is the case now.
It is encouraging that our City authorities are calling for and working towards bringing all brains together to ponder solutions to this phenomenal problem, that calls for the collaboration of all.
Sadly, time is running out, thousands of people no longer enjoy normal life, as the over-crowding in cities has brought with it unprecedented levels of crime, and people everywhere you turn, are groaning under its yoke. It is said that when the wicked rule the people are groaning.
It is time that decisive steps are taken by those in authority, such that it would remove the burden on the people’s lives.
Our own Constitution guarantees freedom and security of the person under Chapter 2, Section 12 (1 and 2), among others to be free from all forms of violence, to enjoy the right to bodily and psychological integrity.
The African Charter has similar provisions, but these will be just rights on paper, never to be enjoyed by the citizenry. Let us hope not.
Dr Wallace Mgoqi is the chairman of AYO TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS LTD.
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