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Original poster

My heart is bleeding for my country tonight

354 replies

TrixieLou · 12/07/2021 22:03

Name changed and posting here for traffic.

I have been resident in the UK for 15 years but I am originally from Kwazulu Natal, South Africa. My country is on fire. It has been mentioned on the news today but the football has completely overshadowed the story. My family live in the worst hit area. Shopping centres have been looted and destroyed. Thousands of criminals have been shooting, looting, throwing grenades and setting off bombs. I had my father on the phone earlier and could hear gunshots in the background. The police and the military are doing nothing. My brothers are currently blocking off their roads with their vans. They are armed with guns. Most of their neighbours are there too. They are watching thousands of angry protesters approach from the valley below. Gunshots. Fire. Bombs. There is black smoke billowing in the air from trucks and cars being set on fire. Thousands of people are walking on the streets carrying merchandise from destroyed shopping centres. People are shooting at each other. They have said that this is only the beginning. Private homes will be next. The homes that house my family and friends. My family are scared for their lives tonight. I just had my father in tears on the phone, telling me he doesn’t know what is going to happen tonight and that he loves me. He never got to meet my new baby.

Please pray for South Africa tonight. Or send good thoughts if you don’t pray. They will never recover from this. They were already on their knees.

OP posts:
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6
ChardonnaysPetDragon · 13/07/2021 09:04

Glad to hear that they are safe but it must be heartbreaking to wait fir news and to hear about the ruin of your home town.

I didn’t know about this, there is no coverage of this on the news as far as I can see.

Tal45 · 13/07/2021 09:08

Shit OP, that is horrendous, thank you for bringing to our attention I had no idea, I don't even know what to say. I'm so glad your family are safe but so sorry they have had to go through this.

Forestttheout · 13/07/2021 09:10

Praying for your family OP I am in East Africa and the videos from SA being shared on whatsapp groups here are heartbreaking. Particuarly given the reason for the violence and riots. Hoping your family are safe and a quick resolution to the whole situation.

Boood · 13/07/2021 09:13

Oh, OP. I read the title and thought you’d be posting about the England football team, I was going to tell you not to be so melodramatic. This must be terrifying for you, I’m so sorry. I hope peace will be restored soon and your family will be safe.

Wineat5isfine · 13/07/2021 09:20

My heart breaks for South Africa. The videos coming out are terrifying and heartbreaking!! 💔

MaverickDanger · 13/07/2021 09:28

DH is from KZN and we are getting daily updates from his aunts & cousins. None of them can get to his 92 yo gran so a real worry at the moment. She’s in an assisted living complex so hoping that they can keep it as secure as possible.

His cousin’s other family have been evacuated from Mooi River and are in temporary shelter. His aunt has 3 days of food but daren’t go out.

The town where he was born is on the coast and just has one road in and out. His aunt has said that the residents have barricaded the road and are protecting the area. She can see smoke coming from Gateway (one of the biggest malls in SA).

We lived in SA for a long time and have amazing memories of time spent there. After a year of COVID restrictions, this is just devastating.

lovelybitofsquirrell · 13/07/2021 09:46

So sorry OP. wishing all the best to you, your family and your country.

My heart breaks reading this.

Zee91 · 13/07/2021 09:52

Also South African

Our whole family (parents and siblings of DH and I) are in SA

The situation is terrible and it’s left to communities to protect themselves

beigebrownblue · 13/07/2021 09:56

I am very sorry to hear this pain you and your fellow compatriots are going through. It is important to raise awareness of the human face of this by writing here. We are all human beings and deserve a peaceful existence, enough food and being able to go about our business without fear.

Prayers are with you.

Allington · 13/07/2021 10:02

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3Britnee · 13/07/2021 10:11

This is chilling. And certainly puts things in perspective.

And I thought the 2011 riots were bad when they were saying they were going to attack houses! That was nothing in the grand scheme.

I'm sorry your hometown is ruined op and I hope it doesn't all start up again tonight. I hope everyone is and stays safe.

balkangrill · 13/07/2021 10:11

I am so sorry this is happening to your country. I am from Sarajevo and lived through war and siege here. I know the fear you are talking about. However bad the situation was before, this is million times worse. I will pray for the peace to return to SA and for your family and friends to stay safe

Crockof · 13/07/2021 10:12

Just sending my prayers.

StepladderToHeaven · 13/07/2021 10:14

This is terrible OP.

Allington · 13/07/2021 10:23

The post that has been very quickly reported explained the level of violence the majority of (black) South Africans live with, and my credentials for knowing that.

Interesting that it was so quickly reported

Orf1abc · 13/07/2021 10:26

This is terrible, but not unexpected. This is what populism does to countries - Zuma, Trump, Bolsonaro, and yes, Johnson.

mbosnz · 13/07/2021 10:29

I am so sorry, OP, and for all the other South African posters, who are there, or have friends and family back home. This is utterly terrible.

You will be in my thoughts constantly today.

A beautiful country, a tragic country.

Allington · 13/07/2021 10:32

My heart bleeds for the millions of South Africans who have never lived in an area where street violence is rare and makes the headlines.

Who have been educated by teachers who would fail primary level maths because their own education was so poor - after all, there was no point in educating people whose job in life was to be a 'maid' (cleaner) or 'garden boy' (gardener, no matter what age if their skin was black)

Who regularly go hungry despite working full time.

Who live in a shack and share an outside toilet, and never have the possibility of proper housing no matter how hard they work.

The women who get beaten up by men because, walking to work in a white neighbourhood, are assumed to be a sex worker (because it's perfectly OK, of course, to beat up a sex worker, and a black woman walking in this neighbourhood must be a sex worker)

EmpressSuiko · 13/07/2021 10:33

So sorry OP, I have family in Kwazulu Natal, it’s very scary right now!

Allington · 13/07/2021 10:34

My heart bleeds for those who don't live in a secure compound, can't block off the streets with their cars, and don't have guns to wave around.

I.e. the majority of South Africans, not only those who would have been classified as 'white'

Allington · 13/07/2021 10:38

Not to mention the school friend of DD1 who, aged 8, was dragged into the bushes on her way to school and raped. It didn't make the newspapers because it was too common.

The kids who aged out of the children's home that was part of one of the NGOs where I worked (12 years old) who were stabbed to death, ended up.off meds and dying of AIDS on the streets, addicted to substances and dead before they left their teens.

Original poster
TrixieLou · 13/07/2021 10:41

@Allington I didn’t get to read your post before it was removed. You are the only person on this thread that has made this about race. The violence that everyone in SA faces on a daily basis is horrific. Especially the black population. My aunt and uncle were murdered in their beds when I was a teen. My aunt was violently raped before she was killed. My cousin managed to hide but heard his parents being slaughtered. When I say that residents are taking things into their own hands I do not just mean white people. Everyone is standing up and fighting against this. The looting mostly makes me feel sad! I actually understand why they are doing it. They have been so deprived and so desperate for so long that they have no choice but to join in. What I cannot condone is the violence and the destruction of property. That is pure criminality. Once the malls have been gutted they are being burned down to the ground. Entire cities are being destroyed. There is no excuse for that.

OP posts:
Enb76 · 13/07/2021 10:42

While we can acknowledge that SA is one of the most unequal countries on earth Allington, we could also have compassion for all the people who are caught up in this. In the end, it is not the whites who will ultimately suffer here, it is people trying to make a living with very few resources and even less help from successive governments.

I am not really concerned about the looting - was I living in poverty in SA I would probably do the same. The violence though is something else.

Allington · 13/07/2021 10:43

The amazing friend, colleague, and DD2's godmother who had minimal education, has no chance of proper housing. Is the same age as me (nearly 50) and works 10 days (24 hours) on 4 days off as a child care worker in a children's home.

Somehow manages to love every child (including DD2 who was in her care) as if they were her one and only child. Who fights for them against a system that is vastly under resourced. Who every day takes the cr*p thrown at her because she understands their hurt and need.

My heart bleeds for her.