There was scattered debris on the tarmac at New Germany Road, Reservoir Hills, in Durban on Saturday afternoon when I arrived for a funeral at the Clare Estate Crematorium.
Alongside, the squatter camp (“informal settlement” for those of you who are politically correct) looked strangely sparkly – gleaming sheets of new iron adorning the roofs and walls of the shacks glistening after the rain.
Earlier in the day, it had been a site of chaos. Residents of the shacks who had been stealing electricity by stringing cables across the road had taken umbrage at the fact that eThekwini Municipality decided to stop the theft by removing the cables.
They attacked the municipality workers, throwing bricks and rocks at the vehicles. The workers and their security guards fled. They were pursued and further attacked. A shootout followed. At the end, two of the shack dwellers lay dead and seven others were injured.
(I did not actually see any of this happening – I’m quoting what police told the Daily News. I expect the police had no reason to lie.)
The nine guards have been charged with murder and attempted murder and their firearms have been confiscated.
eThekwini mayor James Nxumalo is reported to have condemned the actions of the security guards and sympathised with the grieving families before promising them electricity via prepaid meters.
Asked by the Daily News whether the guards had been defending themselves, “Nxumalo said that while that might be their defence, if the SAPS or Metro police had been in attendance, the situation would have been defused”.
Now let me see if I’ve got this right. People trying to do their jobs are attacked by criminals. They defend themselves. Their boss then meets with the criminals and apologises.
Or am I missing something here?
But this is not about the mayor. I’m sure those of you who live in Durban had good reason to vote him into office.
On Friday, a day before the Reservoir Hills clash, the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance held a press conference in Johannesburg conceding defeat in a legal challenge to stop e-tolls in Gauteng, but urging motorists to not buy the electronic tags.
Outa’s supporters have been more vociferous, calling for civil disobedience. Cosatu has vowed to fight on.
Do you notice the similarities between the squatters across the road from the Clare Estate Crematorium and the supporters of Outa?
Think about it: both groups want the benefit of public facilities without the responsibility of paying for it.
The Durban squatters have become used to free electricity. Of course it’s not really free. Someone is paying for it. In this case, it is the ratepayers of Durban who are paying for services but that money gets diverted to those who do not pay. The squatters want them to continue paying.
The road users in Gauteng have become used to free roads. Of course it’s not really free. Someone is paying for it. In this case, it’s the taxpayers of the country who have already subsidised the Gauteng roads to the tune of billions in spite of the fact that they might never use those roads. Outa and Cosatu want those taxpayers to continue paying.
It’s a misplaced sense of entitlement that is stuffing us up as a nation. I don’t believe it’s fair for the citizens of Durban to subsidise indiscriminate use of electricity by others. I don’t believe it’s fair for taxpayers of the country to subsidise road usage in Gauteng either by income tax or by a fuel levy.
We need to stop conflating unrelated issues. Is it wrong that people linked to the ruling ANC have benefited from massive infrastructure projects such as e-tolls only because they are linked to the ANC? Yes.
Do we need complete transparency around how Sanral is administering public funds? Yes. Should we be prosecuting any corruption found? Yes.
But those roads have to be paid for, and that payment should be made by those making use of the service.
In exactly the same way as the Reservoir Hills squatters need to pay for their electricity.
On the bright side, I do not expect Sanral security guards to be shooting Cosatu protesters anytime before the elections next year.