How far have we really come?

Dear Madam – During a recent weekend I was in a very wet, muddy and miserably Siyahlala-la Informal Settlement when I saw many people queue in the rain in order to receive a very thin mattress from a Councillor, and it reminded me of the infamous myth of how Manhattan Island in New York (one of the most expensive pieces of real estate in the world) was purchased from the Native Americans for a few beads in 1625 by Dutch settlers.

The legend is often told with an underlying tone implicating that the Native American people are primitive and simplistic and lacked the sophistication and foresight to understand that land is much more valuable than a few worthless trinkets.

Seeing the portly Councillor standing next to his luxury German vehicle I could not help but be shocked at the great disparity between him and

the residents of the informal settlement. How can the Councillor ever have any understanding of what the people of Siyahlala-la are really going through, and how can he best represent their interests? They might as well have been from two different planets.

I will admit that the inhabitants of Siyahlala-la really do need all the assistance that they can get, be it money, food parcels or thin mattresses.

However, the motive and timing of the hand-out has to be questioned.

As I saw the most destitute of people exchanging the only thing that they can really use as a collective to change their fate, their vote, for a

few thin flimsy mattresses, I could not help but have the impression that the people of Siyahlala-la, just as the Native Americans, were perceived to be primitive, simplistic and lacking the sophistication and foresight to understand that their vote is worth more than a mattress.

As I left Siyahlala-la I could not help but ask myself the following question: How far did we really come?

Anonymous