"Man's inhumanity to man" (Robbie Burns).

Today I am supremely sad. I am a member of the human race but so many other members have lost their humanity.

What is happening in our beautiful country now makes me weep. Alan Paton used up a title that needs to apply again now but in a totally different context. "Cry the beloved Country".

 
Weep for your girls and old women who are being raped and murdered.
Weep for the driver who stops at a traffic light to be mugged through the car window.
Weep for the children who are homeless.
Weep for the children who witness the atrocious death of their parents at the hands of petty thieves.
Weep for the elderly who thought of the future and saved so hard for their old age – only to find that they are surviving on a pittance.
Weep for the elderly who are forced to look after their grandchildren because the parents died of Aids or violence and there is no-one else who can do it.
Weep for the single parent or no parent household.
Weep for the misery that surrounds us.
Weep for the early loss of childhood innocence.
Weep for the child who has to fight temptations previously unknown.

Forget the cheering on of our sports heroes and politicians who so quickly succumb to the pleasures of the flesh, bribery and corruption.
Forget the wealthy stars who pop in to SA for a few days to "make a difference". We live here!

What does it matter that people are forced to go through hardships to entertain huge TV audiences (and eventually win an enormous amount of money). We watch them but try to ignore the real suffering at our feet. Look at the microcosms around us who are trying to maintain human dignity. They reflect part of the true South Africa of the 21^st century.

South Africa – the land of my birth – I am a South African who once was proud to say those words. And now … I weep.