PRESENTLY there is an ongoing investigation with the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Social Development and the Verulam Child Welfare where Shivan Cumberlege (12) shockingly hanged himself while his 4-year-old brother was in the room. This should have been national news, but it is drowned out in the noise of monotony with episodes of such a nature being normative to the South African public rather than an aberration.
YUSUF ISMAIL looks at the tragic realities of poverty in South Africa, highlighting the systemic issues that perpetuate inequality and the urgent need for societal change.
PRESENTLY there is an ongoing investigation with the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Social Development and the Verulam Child Welfare where Shivan Cumberlege, 12, shockingly hanged himself while his 4-year-old brother was in the room.
This should have been national news, but it is drowned out in the noise of monotony with episodes of such a nature being normative to the South African public rather than an aberration.
The child was forced to sell bottles and used that money to buy polony for his younger sibling. He eventually hanged himself with his mother’s sari. Such tragic incidents no longer induce a sense of shock in any of us, nor does it seem to galvanise leadership or community members to change or make any meaningful effort in uplifting society although there are respectable attempts.
