Ubuntu - a word all South Africans are familiar with, but do not all fully understand nor experience when we continue living life in our own little bubbles.
There are many interpretations of this Zulu and Xhosa word, but they all boil down to my favourite and that is:
Humanity towards others.
Mass looting in Durban
The looting started exactly a week ago; I will not go into the details, but briefly sum up what's been happening in our beautiful province of Kwazulu Natal with its rolling green hills and valleys; a peaceful province that is a tourist attraction not only for the stunning sandy beaches but also for the majestic Drakensberg mountain range, game reserves, cultural villages and much much more.
Protests against the imprisonment of our ex-president Zuma for contempt of court during his trial for corruption, fraud, racketeering and money laundering, started last Friday and soon escalated into looting and massive damage to shopping malls and warehouses on a scale never seen before in our province.
Scores of looters died, trampled to death by fellow looters!
A friend saw something from her apartment that was quite unbelievable; a woman who had looted a nearby furniture store pushing a trolley loaded to the brim with a television and other goods; next moment a taxi screeched to a halt, 6 guys jumped out and stole her loot, leaving her standing with an empty trolley. My friend said she almost felt sorry for this woman as she looked so dejected with her empty trolley; funny but not funny at all!
Business, Shopping, Transport of goods and Life in general brought to a standstill
Transport was halted on the N3, which is the main route for transporting goods between Johannesburg and Durban; Transnet declared a force majeure at the Durban and Richards Bay harbours.
With mass looting and petrol bombs being hurled at buildings and vehicles, businesses closed and we started living in fear that we would be the next target.
My brother, who currently works in Kazakhstan, lost some of his belongings that was in storage in a warehouse that was set on fire to gain access for looting.
They of course stole his trailer and used it to cart goods.
Remember this beautiful light I shared in one of my posts recently that was made by my cousin? This one is still hanging in their new home, but its' twin was in storage and left by the looters, looks like it's also damaged. I have not even spoken to my sister in law who is living in the new smaller home they're renting as we've been kept busy with getting whatever supplies we could from small Pakistani food stores that stayed open as we still had guests in our bnb.
My brother and his wife planned on building a new home last year, but then lockdown happened and that was put on hold, so some of their goods had to go into storage; sadly all gone now!
Threat of home invasions
The scariest part for us was the threat of home invasions, which were taking place with homemade petrol bombs being thrown at some homes.
The deplorable and massive carnage at shopping malls however, was beyond belief!
To say it's been an awful week, is putting it mildly.
The worst was not being able to buy food nor fuel; so I had to ration food like never before; the pantry was fairly full but fresh supplies were extremely low.
I cannot even imagine how the poorest of the poor are managing during this time, as many rely on feeding schemes which cannot operate during this time.
Soldiers deployed
Calm seem to be returning now that the government has finally deployed soldiers to our province; said to be the largest deployment in the new democracy, with 25 000 soldiers on the ground.
Ubuntu
However, back to my opening paragraph and the word Ubuntu.
This week with food and fuel shortages, Ubuntu was sparked between neighbours.
During everyday living, we're all too busy living our own lives so simply wave or say a quick Hi, how are you? in passing.
What happened now was that I finally got to know my new neighbour who has been living next door for about three years already! We messaged each other and the conversation turned to what foods we had in abundance and what we were short of, and so we swopped food across the fence and had a good long chat.
My neighbour on the other side with whom we have been friends for years as Khanyi used to travel to and from work with me, stood in the food store queue one day for hours and bought a couple of necessities for us; although things like eggs were unobtainable.
Many people on our neighbourhood watch community group were advising on where one could order fresh bread and pick-up or where to buy certain foods.
The Grey Street Mosque in central Durban put together a valuable little recipe book with the most divine recipes for all kinds of breads and shared it via WhatsApp, telling us we're welcome to forward it to as many people as possible. It is in pdf format so I am not sure how to add it here, but what an awesome gesture at a time when we're all making our own breads.
Many communities banded together; all creeds and colours, with the backing of private security companies as well as local police stations to protect key points as well as entrances into suburbs.
These men and women put their lives at risk to protect the ordinary citizens, and I salute each and every one of them! My son is also taking part in that operation, so mother Hen has been quite worried about him, but with calmness returning, I feel a whole lot more positive and not so stressed.
Back at Home
We removed our BnB sign as we were afraid that we may be targeted as many businesses were attacked, but we continued working on the garden and pathway on the side of the BnB cottage. Our talented gardener has learned many skills from hubby who is a retired civil engineer, but Bongikosi tells me he prefers planting and tending to the garden and his love for this shows, as everything he plants flourishes, he really has green fingers. I can't wait to show you this project once it's completed, but here is a peek of it.
Another section of the garden that has been replanted.
Right across from that flower bed is another one that's flourishing so it's being left as is.
We are blessed indeed to have so much tranquility around us, but really got caught up in the horrors of the past week!
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