Some people are uncivilized
I have said it before, nobody is perfect and we all error but the Creator is most merciful.
However, some people do not care how their behaviour impacts and they continue harming others.
What am I talking about?
There is no entirely rich or poor nations, all nations have pockets of wealth and poverty. Example, Los Angelo’s USA has a huge problems with vagrancy and addiction etc. and LA is a wealthy locale.
Likewise, there is nothing wrong with Mitchells Plain, Hanover Park or Manenberg etc. The problem is not the locality but a few people in that location. For decades people blamed Apartheid and many continue looking into the past instead of acknowledging the reality that some people are uncivilized.
Acknowledging reality, is vital to problem solving.
Example, Mitchells Plain has many civic centres, libraries, sporting facilities, parks and community spaces that cost ratepayers millions to maintain. In contrast, Walmer and University Estate where residents pay 10 times more in rates has no libraries, civic centre’s etc. Yet, the little that exists, is appreciated as vandalism is minimal when equated to Mitchells Plain, Hanover Park etc.
Why do I say this?
When people are unaware of their bad behaviour, others must step-up and say/do something.
Example, a University Estate local rented a granny flat to a brown family from a poorer suburb. The family often had guests who arrived with loud noise, hooting and left late at night with great noise.
After months a brown neighbour told the landlord that his tenant was noisy. The landlord told the tenant the noise was unacceptable and the tenant had a choice, adjust or leave.
This situation is common as social mobility is required in a capitalistic society, where the majority was oppressed by Apartheid. However, bringing bad behaviour from a locality into another must be understood and corrected within its context to avoid claims of racism or classism.
Example, decades ago a brown family moved from Kensington to Maitland. They needed written permission from white neighbours. This was racist and in time most whites left Maitland. Today, the brown family want to leave Maitland as the area is a hub for foreign blacks, backyard business and vagrants. The bottle stores and casinos in the main road and tuck shops and fixing cars in side-street are a nuisance. Can Maitland be saved from chaos, I am unsure but the message is obvious.
Each communities must protect its own serenity and that effort is not racist or classist. People cannot call the police for a barking dog or noisy neighbour when 20 000 people are murdered annually in South Africa as the police are busy.
Those guilty of disturbing the genuine serenity of others must be told their behaviour is uncivilized.
Cllr Yagyah Adams
Cape Muslim Congress