Part of my political education in the eighties included a comic strip that starts off showing a boss man in a suit shouting abuse at an employee. This employee then goes home and shouts at his wife. She shouts at the kid, and the kid kicks the cat. This simple set of frames taught me more about power than a whole lot of reading of Karl Marx.
This representation of power and powerlessness is a perfect analogy to describe the current anti-migration mobilisation that is happening in the country. My disclaimer upfront. We have achieved incredible things since 1994, and South Africa is massively better than it was under apartheid. Right now we are in trouble though. The country is in crisis at so many levels, and it is poor communities who bear the brunt of these crises.
The failure of our government and the private sector to create jobs is devastating. The breakdown of our health and education systems means that the disadvantages you start with in life are entrenched as you grow older, further pushing poor people to the margins of society. Crime continues to disproportionately affect poor people - those with the means can afford private security. Even the privatisation of security is not enough to halt the pandemic of men violating women, and children remain more vulnerable than ever.
