Writers block it seems. Only I'm not a writer but merely a sometimes blogger. Weirdly, after 137 days of tapping away at this keyboard and doing other stuff, my typing skills show little sign of improving. My now calloused two fingers that I use to 'pen' these missives jealously guard their territory lest more fingers wish to join the party. I sometimes wonder how many fingers JK Rowlings used when typing her boy wizard chronicles, I bet it was more than two though (Of course this was when she wasn't writing on the back of used paper napkins in a grimy greasy spoon in the slums of Glasgow...)
Today's poison has to be carefully scribed...as I risk offending even upsetting the 'South Africa is such a nice place to live because we can cook meat on real fires and we have swimming pools and game reserves' brigade.
Today's missive centres on the pending suspension of a very senior and very white police officer in SA who, if you believe some media reports is unstained by corruption and a beacon of the anti crime movement that is so needed there.
If you are the other way inclined you may believe other reports that taint him as the godfather of the Durban mafia, running police death squads and generally being a law unto his own. Either way, his suspension and the disbanding of his highly respected organised crime unit (just a thought here...organised crime? Does this stand for being organised in committing crime or being anti organised crime? You decide...) does not bode well for the future. The future now being one without any competent police force at all! At least when Booysen was there there was an inkling of a chance, or so we believed.
Lets assume his general innocence of the deeds he is supposed to have committed, lets take into account his rank, his stature and his track record of catching, upsetting and prosecuting - or even killing - promiscuous killers, corrupt and powerful business people and of course comfortable and obscenely rich government ministers and lackeys. Lets assume that he has knowledge and access to information that could make some people uncomfortable. Lets assume that his unit was working on exposing serious graft in the government. Lets assume he was doing his job.
And this is the bit that may upset middle class SA...did your reasonably well educated brains not see this coming? Do you not read the papers like you have done for the past 25 years or more and think when you saw that article about the chaos in the rest of Africa that it might just come to your shores too. Here you have a white policeman upsetting a black government in a country where the colour of your skin is everything.
In a country with a diminishing international credibility, a fast approaching failing education system, a woeful lack of maintained infrastructure, a murder and rape rate that makes people gasp in astonishment, wanton violence and the insane and insurmountable uncheckable levels of corruption it is amazing that clever and travelled people still cannot see it. It is too amazing that these same people, many of whom have means, financially, and means in terms of passports have stuck their head in the sand and say it'll get better.
It won't.
Its nice that there are groups that preach positivity about the country, its nice that there are groups that are encouraging people to return. And yes the country does need you, no dispute. It needs your willingness to work, your entrepreneurial flair, it needs your support. But it won't support you. I promise you. It is designed to take all from legitimate and law abiding businesses. It won't give you opportunity, often because of the colour of your skin, even though you have the means and the skill to do the job.That, my friends is the bottom line. Your business aptitude will be smothered in red tape and so many completely one sided and unenforced first world rules and regulations that you will soon slip into the African way of making a plan, often the wrong one. Your safety will be compromised everyday and gradually you will just accept that that's the way it is. Your currency devalues everyday but you won't see it as its borne through constant and ever rising prices and lack of bang for your buck. You'll just accept it. And you'll accept all these things because in your mind lifestyle is the be all and end all.
The writing is on the wall. No where in the country will be spared the African curse of demise and failed standards. But you need to go away to realise it.
For the Booysens of this world, I'm pretty sure you're not entirely innocent but in my opinion, on balance, you're probably done more good than bad. That you may have sanctioned 'look he's trying to escape lets shoot him in the head' killing of a murderer or two then so be it. No justice is deserved there anyway. To the people who are surprised by this, you should open your eyes a bit wider. Its not going to get better, no matter what SA Reunited tells you, or the You Magazine, or some govt sponsored blurb.
