Last night, SAFM broadcast a dialogue session at the University of Free Sate (UFS) under the heading ‘reconciliation and social justice’ lead by Prof. Pumla Gobodo – Madikizela and Prof Andre Geet as key presenters.

Listeners expressed passionate, at times militant views with regard to addressing inequality and entrenched white privilege in this country. Some voiced their view that white people will not share their privileges voluntary and that a confrontational stance is needed. At moments I felt reminded of young people’s voices heralding in the Arab Spring in Northern Africa some time ago.

Later, on my way to the shopping mall, I dropped off a young hitch-hiking woman in Masiphumlele and moments later, having taken a wrong turn, landed in a newly developed town-house community close by, learning from the security guard that white people own all these houses.
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If my heart hurts watching a stray dog but remains unmoved seeing a poor woman scavenging through my rubbish bin, I lost the capacity to value our shared humanness and I need help to repair the human connection:

To appreciate the beauty of our souls

The generosity in our hearts

And show grace which comes from service

Thursdays are rubbish pick up day in my neighbourhood. From early on, poor people move through the streets canvassing rubbish bins that have been rolled out to the street. Some bounty hunters have organised pick up points where they wait for small trucks to fetch them and their bulging bags of discarded goods. While I admire their industriousness, I also feel very sad.
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