I've really had it. This morning I got a call from someone that works for me, an hysterical call because she and her husband had just been held up, beaten up, and he had been shot. What was she screaming at me about? The fact that her laptop and some confidential work documents had been stolen. Naturally I told her to forget about the work stuff and asked if they were ok. For all intents and purpose they are and that means "thank god you weren't killed". This is what we do, we thank god for allowing this bullshit to continue to happen, as long as we are not killed. There are hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands of stories just like this one, but I'm going to tell it anyway...
The couple were at home on a public holiday. She was hanging up the washing and he was somewhere in the front of the house. Their baby was at her parents and her car was parked outside; his had been stolen a month previously (but luckily nobody was killed). She looked up and saw her husband walking towards her, one man on either side of him and a gun at his neck. He told her to "just get down" and he lay on top of her whilst they screamed, kicked, hit and demanded money and valuables. The youngest of them kept on saying "can I kill them?, can I kill them?" but an older one told him no. When they were finally done the youngest one could not hold it in anymore and fired a single shot. She felt her husband go limp on top of her and she rolled him over. The bullet had gone through his shoulder and exited, narrowly missing her head. He told her to push the panic button and that's when she saw all the blood. The police and armed response were there within minutes, the ambulance took their time. The robbers got away with two cellphones and a laptop. They would have killed for much less.
I don't begrudge the people that choose to stay here, I worry about the ones that have no choice. I still read all the overly positive emails and reports that get sent around like chain letters telling us why it isn't so bad and almost berating the people for their negativity or for wanting to leave. I sign the petitions to the President, but I know that they are never going to make any difference. I have been to more funerals than most people, I have listened to the stories and YES, IT IS THAT BAD. The good stuff is just not good enough anymore. I have been told that I am overly-emotional, but dammit I have the right to be. The crime rate and the lack of concern about the country's failing infrastructure is not acceptable. It just isn't.
I no longer have any desire to enjoy the things about this country that are good, and there are a lot of those. It is incredibly painful to see how much damage can be done and how little regard there is for life. It's not even a white thing anymore because just as many black people are subjected to this kind of violence.
Each day I ask that we make it through the next few months without becoming a statistic, so that we can get the hell out of here. And at the moment, I don't ever wish to come back.
I choose to opt out and leave. Please don't hold it against me.
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