I think that is the title of an old Western film, and there are parts of this beautiful country where it probably does feel like you are living in the lawless days of a cowboy film. But it seemed to sum up the last few weeks quite nicely…
The good…
Spring in the Cape is stunningly beautiful. Wild flowers grow in carpets of colour in places that for the rest of the year are dry and barren looking. Even around here, the roadsides are full of colour with flowers that would be greenhouse specials back in the UK. Arum lilies grow wild in damp areas and every journey brings new little patches of beauty to enjoy.
One of the “must do” things around here is to take a trip up the West Coast to see the wild flowers. They appear each spring for only a couple of weeks and provide a vivid splash of colour in a normally dry area. We took a little day trip up a few weeks ago. One of the surprises of the day was just how many other people had made the trip. One of the main flower viewing areas is in a national park, where there was a 30 minute queue to get in through the gate. Once we had paid our fees, we followed the other cars around, and around, and around until we finally arrived at the flower fields. Along with a solid line of other vehicles. Wardens were driving up and down shouting at the people ignoring the “Do Not Walk On the Flowers” signs which were almost as plentiful as the flowers themselves. It was a lovely sight once you could see past the other people, but a reminder that sometimes there is nothing quite as destructive as people trying to enjoy nature! A couple of photos..
The following weekend we went away for a couple of days with some friends to visit some friends of a friend in the UK who have started up a holiday let business at a place called Philliopskop Mountain Reserve. We stayed in the middle of the fynbos surrounded by beautiful wild flowers and plants, and took a day trip to Hermanus, the home of whale watching. At this time of the year, a number of different types of whales come right into the coast of the Cape. In spite of a howling wind, we did manage to see a mother and baby swimming very slowly along right next to the coastal path, and some other whales breaching a little further out. A beautiful sight, but don’t tell the Hermanus tourist board… we’ve had better whale sightings right here in Fish Hoek Bay. About a month ago, we stood on the rocks for an hour or so watching a whale calving. Sadly, we weren’t able to stay long enough to see a calf. And just last week, my mum and I were able to make the most of the very long contraflow wait in the roadworks to sit and watch a couple of whales breaching about 100m off shore. (Contraflow systems in roadworks operate very differently here to the UK: 1) Always manually operated, even when they are in place 24/7. 2) They can cover long, long distances. Several miles. 3) They operate on long time slots. You will usually see a sign warning you to expect 10-15 minutes delay. By which they mean that they allow traffic to go in one direction for anything up to that period of time. So, you switch off your engine, find your book, catch up on your emails, or, if you’re in our local roadworks, you look for whales.) Anyway, I have no decent photos of whales. But I do have some photos of the fynbos flowers around Phillipskop…
There are a lot more flower photos, but there’s a limit to what I can impose on you!
The bad…
We have had a very interesting mini-series of sermons at church recently, looking at what the Bible has to say about living in South Africa today. People in the local community were asked to say what they felt were the best and worst things about living in South Africa. Needless to say, crime, corruption and economic uncertainty were among the highest scoring negative answers. One of the things that really struck me was learning about the Gini coefficient and how South Africa scores in that respect. (This is the first time I have ever used the word “coefficient” in any piece of writing and it is definitely one of those words that makes you feel really smart!) For those who don’t know what the Gini coefficient is (and that was me until a couple of weeks ago), it is used by some economists to measure income distribution within a country. It works on the basis that if a country’s income were completely equally distributed, that country would have a coefficient of 0. If all income in a country was earned by one individual, the coefficient would be 1. (Some economists go from 0 to 100 instead.) Obviously, neither of those scenarios is really likely to happen, but it is an interesting measure of income inequality. So, for example, the UK’s Gini score is 0.404, exceeding the EU average of 0.346 and even topping the US who score 0.4. Clearly, the lower the score, the more evenly income is distributed around the population. In South Africa this is somewhere between 0.6 and 0.7, and according to World Bank estimates, in 2011 South Africa had the highest Gini coefficient on their records. Which backs up the impression you have that in South Africa, the rich are richer and the poor are poorer than pretty much anywhere else in the world. You only have to drive around Cape Town to see this: multi-million pound properties on a scale of luxury that it is hard to imagine, and also many many people living in homes made of a few bits of corrugated iron fastened together in the hope of keeping out the wind and the rain. I’m no economist and nor would I suggest some kind of Marxist wealth redistribution, but somehow it just seems to be wrong that such opulent wealth exists alongside such grinding poverty.
..and the ugly
Alongside the poverty, and in some measure contributing to it, is the sheer scale of corruption in this country. It is estimated that millions upon millions of rand have been filtered off through corruption. Money that is desperately needed to provide adequate housing and better education, and also much needed to improve the quantity and quality of police, particularly in disadvantaged areas. A few miles away from where we live, is an area called Masiphumelele (commonly known as “Masi”). The infrastructure there was built for around 10,000 people. It is estimated that around 35,000 people live there, many in makeshift houses, others sleeping entire families in one small room. Nearby is another area called Ocean View, with a population of nearly 14,000. (I don’t think you can see the ocean from there….).
These two areas, with high unemployment, high levels of drug and alcohol addiction and significant issues with gangs, share a police station which has been staffed by a maximum of 6 officers on any one shift. Often fewer than that. With only two vehicles. Officers based there lack the confidence and the equipment needed.
Needless to say, crime in Masi is a huge issue and for several months, people living there have been peacefully protesting but with little effect. More police officers were promised, but were to be new recruits, not the experienced officers needed. A couple of weeks ago, the community of Masi reached tipping point when a 14 year old boy was raped and murdered in his own home. Tired of inadequate policing, local people decided to initiate community justice.
African community justice is swift and lethal. That same night, one man was executed by people from that community and another taken to hospital with serious injuries. Community justice, as with state justice, is also fallible. There is some doubt as to whether the dead man had played any part in any crime at all. A few days later, another man was burnt to death in a necklacing execution by community justice, and several people were arrested for vigilantism. Yesterday, those arrested were due to appear in court, and this brought about more unrest in the community.
There is only one road in and out of Masi and yesterday morning, this was blocked, as was the main road nearby, by burning tyres and stone-throwing protesters, insisting that those arrested be released on bail. Protesters refused to allow anyone to leave Masi to go to work or school. The police were able to re-open the main road, but Masi itself remained firmly under the rule of protesters. Rubber bullets and tear gas were fired. Frightened parents locked themselves and their children inside, eyes streaming from the tear gas. Some people with medical emergencies were allowed by the protesters to leave, but the threat was clearly made – anyone leaving to go to work would be killed. Those people from Masi who had worked night shifts as security guards, petrol pump attendants, carers, found themselves having to work a double shift as their day time counterparts were unable to get to work, and they themselves were fearful to return home. And underlying this all, an additional fear for the many non-South Africans living in Masi – Zimbabweans, Malawians, Congolese… The perception is that non-South Africans take all the jobs, and xenophobic attacks in South Africa are sadly too frequent.
What are the answers to all this? There are many things that would help – better use of public funds, improved education, more job opportunities, better policing… But one of the things that is so clear is that the Bible speaks such truth when it says: “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure” (Jeremiah 17:9) Human nature is fundamentally sinful, which is why we see poor government, corruption, poverty, crime and why indignant responses to these things can so easily spill over into anger and violence.
In the middle of all this, it is heartening to see that the Living Hope project, started out of the nearby Baptist church, is seen by local communities as a place of help and a beacon of light. Local people of all faiths, and no faith at all, look to pastor John Thomas to speak words of truth and peace about what is happening. Police sent from all around the Cape were given food and a place to take a break at the Living Hope campus, situated virtually opposite the turning in to Masi. A friend who works at Living Hope was able to have some interesting conversations about God with police officers, and these hard working officers were touched by the fact that an appeal from Living Hope brought in sandwiches and cakes for them. Apparently in these situations it is not uncommon for them to work 24 hours with nothing to eat or drink and they have never previously experienced a community feed and support them in this way.
Questions? Many. Problems? Even more. Answers? Only one.
The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble… But God will never forget the needy, the hope of the afflicted will never perish.
Psalm 9: 9, 18
African Crossroad 