George building collapse: The apartment building that was under construction collapsed and trapped 81 workers. Photographer Ayanda Ndamane / Independent Newspapers
What would it take for all those who pretend to understand the plight of many, mostly illegal immigrants who flood this country in an attempt to look for non-existent greener pastures but which often leads to bitter betrayal that ends up in tears?
There is no end to the tragedies that affect these desperate people in this country, with some of them perishing in a foreign country, making it difficult for their relatives in their countries of origin to even know that they lost their lives and if they do find out, they find it difficult to repatriate their bodies.
This reminds me of a young man from Brazil who was used as a drug mule. He was caught at OR Tambo International Airport, carrying in his stomach 78 bullets of a drug that had been tightly secured in condoms that were strapped around with something that kept the drugs intact.
A laparotomy was done in theatre. The drugs were removed, cleaned and taken away by two police officers. He was taken to ICU for observation after the operation and transferred to a surgical ward the next day. He had visitors in the evening, and died overnight. It was obvious that his death was the work of the drug dealers. What was sad was that his family would never know what happened to him.
Then, we read about the death of the 76 victims of the Usindiso bulding fire tragedy and the many who perished in informal settlements fires.
And now, the George five-storey building collapses. There, foreigners from Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, some of them hired as female cleaners, would mix the cement and sand that was used in the construction of the building. All building construction rules were flouted. One family from Malawi has a brother and a sister who could not be accounted for. Only one of his brothers survived.
In the same week, we heard of several 14- to 17-years-old who were trafficked by a company for cheap labour in a factory in China.
Try to condemn the illegal immigration practices and you are labelled xenophobic. Yes, that is what you get from our hypocritical fellow South Africans and their government. Unless we change this irresponsible attitude, SA will always be faced with serious tragedies.
Cometh Dube-Makholwa Midrand.
The Star