One South African Family

by Sarah-Leah Pimentel · November 8, 2015

As I write, students throughout the country are protesting against fees hikes. Emotional scenes are playing themselves out, resulting in clashes between students and police.

The recent ANC national general congress again called for economic transformation and re-emphasised that a small minority continues to control the country�s wealth.

This is no doubt a response to increased popular discontent over access to basic goods and services, evidenced by numerous localised protests that are becoming perturbingly more violent.

One morning, the radio told me that more and more families are taking out credit to purchase basic household goods because they have run out of money for groceries by the third week of the month. The poor rains mean that five provinces are facing water restrictions

Students protest against university fees outside parliament in Cape Town. (Photo: Mphuthumi Ntabeni)

� and this will almost certainly affect crops, further driving up food costs.

The weakening rand means that we�ll have to pay a lot more for imports, ranging from petrol to clothes and electronics.

The crime statistics released a few weeks ago revealed that overall crime rose alarmingly over the last year.

In citing these seemingly disparate events, I�m not judging them or their protagonists, but rather to show that they are signposts of the state of our South African family.

I have no doubt that we will continue to see more demonstrations of discontent. It is human reaction to lash out at the first available scapegoat, such as government corruption, mismanagement, multinationals (and individuals) with large profit margins, or universities that appear to be taking more than their fair share. In many cases, the criticism that these groups have faced is justified.

However, these events point to something far deeper. Someone this week told me that the many protests are an attempt by our still young democracy to find its voice. But what is this voice really saying?

People are frustrated. People want more. They want dignified living conditions. They want employment. They want education for their children. They are looking for hope and not finding it.

The reality is that our economy is contracting. The seven fat years � to use biblical imagery � are now a distant memory and we have found ourselves in the midst of a long lean season. Everywhere the call is for higher wages, more money allocated to infrastructure and services.

Yet, money is becoming harder and harder to come by. There will come a point where the middle class cannot be taxed further and the poor masses cannot live on the meagre income they�re able to scrape together. Already salary increases are not keeping pace with inflation.

This situation is not unique to South Africa. We need only read Pope Francis� address to the United Nations to note that this is a global phenomenon:

�Economic and social exclusion is a complete denial of human fraternity and a grave offence against human rights and the environment. The poorest are those who suffer most from such offences, for three serious reasons: they are cast off by society, forced to live off what is discarded and suffer unjustly from the abuse of the environment. They are part of today�s widespread and quietly growing �culture of waste�.�

This is a dismal outlook but it forces us to ask: What is our response as Church?

We�re called to not turn a blind eye to the anger we see around us and to resist the temptation to retreat into the bubbles of our comfort zones. If you are reading The Southern Cross, you are probably fortunate enough to be part of a small portion of the population that is less affected by the real dramas playing out around us.

The Holy Father calls us to leave our comfort zones and go to the margins where the majority of God�s people are suffering. Perhaps it is a call to use our many skills to uplift those who live in dire poverty by participating in empowerment programmes, the transfer of skills, or simply to listen with an empathic ear to the struggles of the people we come into contact with on daily.

This requires much more than dishing out money or food aid. Enabling people to escape extreme poverty requires time and patience as we invite them to be active protagonists in their own emancipation and, as Pope Francis put it at the UN, �dignified agents in their own destiny.�

Perhaps some readers have an influential voice in the world of politics and economics. This position comes with a great responsibility that requires moral conscience and fearlessness to speak out in defence of equitable distribution of the country�s resources.

The combination of faith and ethics can give rise to solutions that empower the poor without punishing individual enterprise. This requires immense courage, but Pope Francis exhorts us to �generous solidarity� and the �return of economics and finance to an ethical approach which favours human beings� (Evangelii Gaudium).

Herein lies the seeds of hope in what appears to be a bleak landscape of moral and physical poverty: We have not reached the tipping point. The South African family can still emerge victorious from the battles that it is facing. This turnaround requires men and women with moral strength to proclaim a message that counters the rhetoric that currently surrounds us.

Above all, it requires us to see each South African as a brother or sister in Christ and strive in whatever way we can to promote greater solidarity and unity within the South African family.