The Looting of Foreign Nationals Stores

MONYAKENG AT IT’S WORST

Monyakeng seems to have totally lost it now, from the habit of violence, murders and harming each other, to hurting the foreign nationals. Tell  me  what’s  there  to  gain  from  these  lunatic  and  barbaric  acts  of  our  fellow  citizens? People  of  Monyakeng  why  do  you  have  to indulge  in  such  bad  things?  You all  claim you want  to  put  an  end  to  this violence (gangsterism) issue  but  you  somehow  condone  it  or  is  it  pleasant only when  it’s  done by you? Hothwe “Lefu  lehole  ke  ditsheho  empa  hake  tshehe  ke  tletse  leswabo ke ditsela  tsa  rona  batho ba Monyakeng”.

It’s shocking to see elderly  people running joyful with goods they didn’t pay for, while  the  owners  of  those  goods  are  running  for  their  lives. The looting of local stores owned by foreign nationals still continues. What makes these acts different or better than stealing?  Where is our sense of humanity?  We always preach UBUNTU this, UBUNTU that but yet we fail to practice it. What’s your perspective of UBUNTU? What’s so superior about you to think that your needs are more significant than those of others? What  seem  to  strike  me  is  how we deal with issues of  violence and crime.  It is  only  bad  when we are victims  but somehow acceptable whe
n we are the ones doing it to others. Believe  me  when I  say  I  have  lost perspective  of  what’s  good  and  what  is  respectable  simply  because  I  saw old  people  doing  bad  things  lately. I  mean  how does one emulate or idolize  elderly people  who  fail  to  set  good examples  to  the  youngsters? “MONYAKENG COMMUNITY MEMBERS SHARE A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE ON THIS    ISSUE. SOME CONDONE IT SOME DO NOT.”

One of the community members shared his thoughts with us. He  said  that  this  behavior  is  not  right,  no  one  has  the  right  to  break into people’s  businesses  and    take  their  belongings, “no  matter  how we all  look  at  it, it’s  pure  theft  and  a  person  who  steals needs  to  be  dealt  with  accordingly” said the community member. He  also    outlined  the  fact that  this  issue  did  not  only  affect  Asians but  also  the    community  as a whole,  “we  no  longer  have  the  nearest  service, we  have  to  travel  long  distance  to  get  even  the  smallest of things” he said. Imagine  going  to  town only  to  get  a  box  of  matches  or  even  a pack of salt,  you are  going  to  spend  R20  or  you  can  walk  there, which  is  not a safe option either because you might get mugged on your way.” Said Mr Sebatli.

Another  community  member  who  doesn’t  see  pleasure  in  this  whole  issue  speaks  about  how  this  matter  doesn’t  only  affect  the  Asians but  also  affect  certain people in the community. “I  speak  about  those  families  that  were  depending  on the little  amount that they  received  from  their  rented properties, those  who  were  employed  by  the  very  same  shop owners that  our  people  attacked  and  took  their  belongings. Am  not  saying  they were  paying  big  fortunes  but  then  the  little  they  gave  really  kept  life  going.” Mrs Sarah  Mpatane  as  one  of  those  people  who  rented her  place  out  to  these  people  seemed  very  heartbroken  as she  was  depending  on the  little  she  gets  from  her  leased property.She  wishes  that our  people  could  be  civil  and stop blaming foreign nationals and  find  something  better  to  do,  she  also  hopes  that  everything  can  get  back  to normal  again.

Since  the  issue  was  all  over Social  media, which  is  the  platform  where the youth  express their minds, different  posts were  shared  and it  was realized  that  some  of  the  youth somehow  sees  this  as  an  opportunity  for  South  Africans  to  gain  what’s  rightfully theirs, BONGANE  DUMA  voiced  out  his  opinion with  a comment that  he  doesn’t  hate  those  people, but  he  wishes  for  them  to  go  back  to their countries. He  said  most  of  those  people  don’t  have  permits  to  be here, that  means  most  of  their  businesses  are  not registered  which really  affects  the  country’s economy  because  they  don’t  contribute  to  it,  they  don’t  pay  tax; Somehow these  people  use  us  to  boost  their own  economy, we  don’t  benefit  from  them  as  much  as  they  do  from  us” he said. “Since  they  don’t  have  our  country’s  best  interest  in their  minds  why should we keep them here? They just have to leave, “said Bongane.

“THIS  HAS  NOTHING  TO  DO  WITH  XENOPHOBIA”, said  one  of  the  youth  who  wishes  to  remain  anonymous  but  he  strongly believes  that  the  police  force  has  failed  them  big time, he  said  that  only  if  the  police  had  focused  to  this  gangsterism issue much this wouldn’t have happened. The  people  of  Monyakeng  acted  irrational  due  to  anger, they  just  wanted  to  provoke  the  police  so  they  attacked  the vulnerable.

By Lerato Fumane Seeco