Help make world fairer place
ALEXANDRA – Joburg attracts all and sundry from the region just for survival.
While we fulfil the annual tradition of setting goals for the year, others struggling to survive can’t afford a similar luxury.
Street beggers, trolley pushers and many of the less fortunate saw no meaning in joining the merry moments of many on New Year’s Day 2019. Instead, they opted to gather trash discarded by revellers and ate the crumbs and leftovers handed to them by the altruistic.
They traversed Joburg’s mostly empty streets choosing strategic points, particularly at street intersections to maximise their gains on a rain-drenched day with barely anything on their bodies. This while others, seemingly well off, celebrated the new year with gay abandon.
The ‘lucky’ beggers secured themselves with donated raincoats or just plastic to fend off the incessant drizzle as they waited at street corners for help with whatever goodhearted motorists gave them.
Joburg, and the country in general, attracts all and sundry from the southern African region who believe it’s their only hope of survival regardless of how they achieve it. One such person is Thabang Mokhele from Lesotho. His apparent contentment about his status augmented by an endearing smile and greeting, was an amazing indicator of a human being’s hope to survive against all odds. This reporter was moved by Mokhele’s self-presentation to prospective givers at the corner of William Nicol and Sandton drives and how he had to part with the measly change in his pocket to help him start what will hopefully be a better year for him.
The world will be a better place if we can all be generous to those who, at no fault of their own, find themselves on street corners, begging just to survive. Many of them have qualifications, experiences and amazing stories to tell about how they can help make the world a fairer place if given a chance. Mokele’s placard tells it all about his and others’ plight who we often turn a blind eye to, denigrate and regard as vermin, at our own peril. We should be made aware that our current privileges are not permanent guarantees in a world ruled by the dictates of nature.
