By Simphiwe Ndlovu
Everyone is talking about this pandemic; I mean the whole wide world.
Majority of the people are focusing on the negative because it has got us on lockdown. No socializing, no income, no shelter, in the meantime technology has taken over once again.
I am not complaining I am actually grateful for this time because it has let us self-introspect and see a lot of things. A lot of things that many of us think that they might have changed after 1994, but majority haven’t seen an improving progress in our government.
I really think things have changed for those who were rich then they are richer now, those who were poor then are poorer now, then there are those who are living under average standards of living (Fighting with tooth and nail to provide for their families). I mean a lot of people still don’t have proper shelters, proper sanitation, majority of the girls in our country don’t have sanitary pads, and others are teenage moms. I feel like we claiming change but we actually moving around in circles especially for the low-class people.
Children who don’t have internet access have to risk their lives just to get to school. Some of our parents are risking their lives commuting to work everyday because maybe their company claim that they don’t have enough resources for them to work from home.
Even though our government tries to intervene it can’t do much. We can’t rely on the Government for the rest of our lives, looking at the fact that the Government has been promising people RDP’s but until this day there are some people who have been shortlisted and still haven’t gotten their promised houses. The Government can’t even provide girls with pads and essentials to clean themselves so they can be able get to school and not being exposed to contaminating diseases or viruses. The Government is making empty promises to their people that vote for them, who should we trust if our Government doesn’t keep up with their promises?
An unorganized Government produces corruption, the parties involved take advantage of the negligence done in the parliament hence they are exposed to a lot of things than us, the people, who vote the Government. It is really sad for a country that claims to be a democratic country because not all of us have choices or are equally treated. The Government can’t keep our city streets’ clean and yet there is a recycling campaign, we have seen that there hasn’t been much change since 1994. Majority was all talk no action. I think we are dwelling on the past about “Freedom and all” I am not saying we shouldn’t be grateful, yes, we should celebrate those days, the heroes’ and heroines’ behind the struggle during the apartheid era. We should move on and focus on the present challenges and become more innovative amongst ourselves. We should build each other.
Looking at our country at level 3 there is uncertainty about regulations being adhered to by our own ministers. Our education system is not sure whether to reopen schools or not. The statistics from the ‘Norms and Standards for School Infrastructure states that by November 2016, no school should have been without water and sanitation, and all pit latrines should have been eradicated. Still today, around 4500 schools still have pit latrines, and in July 2018, 23 schools in Eastern Cape were still without sanitation facilities at all.”
There are houses that still remain with no sanitation at all and some of the households there are elderly people or people with disabilities and diseases or viruses. During these trying times everyone is scared of their lives imagine people who don’t have precaution measures to prevent themselves, this creates anxiety and depression to some people. No one is applauding people who have survived the virus instead we are scared of them. We should support each other to push through it, not being scared of each other and seeing each other as disposable people.
By Simphiwe Ndlovu
Everyone is talking about this pandemic; I mean the whole wide world.
Majority of the people are focusing on the negative because it has got us on lockdown. No socializing, no income, no shelter, in the meantime technology has taken over once again.
I am not complaining I am actually grateful for this time because it has let us self-introspect and see a lot of things. A lot of things that many of us think that they might have changed after 1994, but majority haven’t seen an improving progress in our government.
I really think things have changed for those who were rich then they are richer now, those who were poor then are poorer now, then there are those who are living under average standards of living (Fighting with tooth and nail to provide for their families). I mean a lot of people still don’t have proper shelters, proper sanitation, majority of the girls in our country don’t have sanitary pads, and others are teenage moms. I feel like we claiming change but we actually moving around in circles especially for the low-class people.
Children who don’t have internet access have to risk their lives just to get to school. Some of our parents are risking their lives commuting to work everyday because maybe their company claim that they don’t have enough resources for them to work from home.
Even though our government tries to intervene it can’t do much. We can’t rely on the Government for the rest of our lives, looking at the fact that the Government has been promising people RDP’s but until this day there are some people who have been shortlisted and still haven’t gotten their promised houses. The Government can’t even provide girls with pads and essentials to clean themselves so they can be able get to school and not being exposed to contaminating diseases or viruses. The Government is making empty promises to their people that vote for them, who should we trust if our Government doesn’t keep up with their promises?
An unorganized Government produces corruption, the parties involved take advantage of the negligence done in the parliament hence they are exposed to a lot of things than us, the people, who vote the Government. It is really sad for a country that claims to be a democratic country because not all of us have choices or are equally treated. The Government can’t keep our city streets’ clean and yet there is a recycling campaign, we have seen that there hasn’t been much change since 1994. Majority was all talk no action. I think we are dwelling on the past about “Freedom and all” I am not saying we shouldn’t be grateful, yes, we should celebrate those days, the heroes’ and heroines’ behind the struggle during the apartheid era. We should move on and focus on the present challenges and become more innovative amongst ourselves. We should build each other.
Looking at our country at level 3 there is uncertainty about regulations being adhered to by our own ministers. Our education system is not sure whether to reopen schools or not. The statistics from the ‘Norms and Standards for School Infrastructure states that by November 2016, no school should have been without water and sanitation, and all pit latrines should have been eradicated. Still today, around 4500 schools still have pit latrines, and in July 2018, 23 schools in Eastern Cape were still without sanitation facilities at all.”
There are houses that still remain with no sanitation at all and some of the households there are elderly people or people with disabilities and diseases or viruses. During these trying times everyone is scared of their lives imagine people who don’t have precaution measures to prevent themselves, this creates anxiety and depression to some people. No one is applauding people who have survived the virus instead we are scared of them. We should support each other to push through it, not being scared of each other and seeing each other as disposable people.
