I’m working with someone in my area here that’s facilitating a plane to take resources to Durban on Monday.
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Wow thats cool!
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Yea we have a similar thing going on in my neighbourhood, we just dropped off a fair amount off stuff including dog and cat food as well as wetwipes TP and so on
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I discovered this wonderful little app that clears out so much clutter from a kindle
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and i am officially vaccinated!!!
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Is it just me or is anyone else finding it increasingly difficult to focus on what they need to focus on in the current situation? I’m hardly getting to my work.
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So further on yesterdays kid-stuck-in-room-kick-door-down debacle, my kids were playing with her kids today and I overheard oldest kid say to my oldest, “My mom says your dad has to pay for a new door”
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You know what I would say to her…
Just got back from another stint at the barricades. I am more and more uncomfortable in being on duty, and certainly prefer the graveyard shift as I don’t have to turn people away trying to enter Ballito. This is so much of an “us vs them” thing.
I am really torn. My first priority is to protect my family’s physical safety. So far there has been no threat at all in that regard. We live in a very well secured estate, now also inside a very secure town. What bugs me is how people on the other side of the freeway are being treated.
Here goes.
LINK TO GOOGLE MAPS TO HAVE A LOOK
There are 4 major entry points and a few smaller entry points marked in ORANGE into the GBA (officially this is what is now known as the Greater Ballito Area). These access points are conveniently off the N2 freeway and thus easy to regulate. What has happened is that the people on the other side of the freeway (blue zones) are now excluded from a few things:
- protection. The rioters and looters have threatened those not wanting to participate.
- access to shopping. Most malls and shops are on the seas side of the freeway. And when they open the shops for the first time later today, the barricades will still be in place, and access will be severely limited.
- access to basic healthcare. There are small clinics, but the main hospital and doctor’s rooms are sea side.
- access to their employment. Most places of employment are seaside.
There are various ways in which people are given access and many more reasons on why some are denied access. What is PAINFULLY clear though, is that the main divider and decider seems to be race and privilege. And because I live on the privileged side, it is very obvious to me.
I am probably rambling because I am tired, but I have tremendous feeling of guilt, and also a healthy dose of fear and anxiety. I have worries. Who will decide that the threat is now over? How long will that take? Where did our humanity go?
What started as a civil duty and an urge to protect, now has me feeling like a military state with restricted movement and marshal law.
My wife says it shows I at least have a conscience, but I really have so much running through my head right now.
Thanks for letting me vent. I am going to sleep now.
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You’re wife’s a smart lady. Step 1 is realizing that something is not right, and a lot of people wouldn’t have gotten that far. All your fears is borne from the same space that keeps me from being active in our CPF, so I think it’s completely valid. If I were in your position I think I’d call it quits if all goes well today and tomorrow (emphasis on think, since I definitely can’t know for sure without being in your position…) Speak up in the whatsapp groups about your concerns, even if the admin lady gives you shit for it.
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I agree, after my initial violent reaction on Monday I had time to give this a lot of thought. I was blown away by my own reaction in retrospect. I realised that rationality must prevail and that introspection on your own reactions to a situation are key. I am now ashamed at my own reaction to the situation, there is no excuse for it other than to also realise that instinctive reaction is an evolutionary mechanism for survival.
To what extent we ALLOW ourselves to give into our instincts in life threatening situations is what makes us human. In an animal it is all or nothing.
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I disagree slightly with you, I think your every reaction was spot on. Reacting with an outburst and a drive to protect by any means possible is natural and by no means wrong. The crucial bit so many people miss is that introspection and allowing common sense to prevail in terribly difficult, dangerous, and chaotic situations.
Feeling shame for a protective instinct is silly, in my opinion.
But I agree with your last statement - how we take our instincts into the total of the information and options available to us to help shape how we react is what matters.
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Ive been proud of you guys and how you have handled the situation up there, what saddens me is the hoarding that started in the cape, why no idea - there is plenty and if they do this now again there will not be enough.
My parents are siphoning the petrol out of my car since we cant fill up the can for the genny at present and they are worried about no petrol - so Iwill go fill up again (2nd time this week)
Also morning people of the palace
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Morning everyone.
I think we’re okay for fuel here. But the local PnP was basically sold out in all veg, meat and tinned food. Even the freaken wagyu was sold out!
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Went shopping in Centurion a few days ago, at Checkers. People were panic buying massive trolleys full of groceries. There was a minor cluster scuffle (no violence, just rushing and grabbing) at the baking aisle as people realized that the yeast was being sold out. One lady grabbed the entire box of small sachets and another complained and asked her to share, so she did. Then they started going in on the self-raising flours, and in the three minutes I stood there watching, the shelf emptied out of everything that contained yeast and flours. Even the esoteric flours were gone. The bread shelf was also emptied out in 15 minutes. I was there for regular shopping, and managed to get the last loaf of brown bread.
The panic buying was compounded by the really good deals available, one of our regular products in our favourite flavour was on a ridiculous special and I bought 12 boxes. I probably looked like I was panic buying as well, but my trolley had a regular assortment of products and was only half full at the end. A fairly normal two-weekly shop.
Things are pretty calm here in central Centurion. There was plenty of frozen and tinned goods still available. The petrol stations were full but not queues of people trying to get fuelled up before a shortage. I guess we are fortunate in that we don’t have major townships nearby. Forest Hill had some issues and Olievenhoutbosch is just across the highway. Other than that I have not heard of any reports of trouble up here by us.
Got my first vax jab yesterday, very happy about that. Registered on Wednesday evening when the portal opened. Did a walk-in at the nearby public centre yesterday afternoon. They just confirmed our age and then put us in the queue. We were there for an hour total, and were very impressed by the efficiency and competency of the people and the systems. It was a good experience overall. Arm was aching like crazy through the night.
Thinking about you all, especially the folks in KZN. It sounds really rough and I feel for you and for all the other innocent people who are being so badly affected by this insanity.
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Some news from what I’ve heard from family in and around KZN:
Queensburgh and Pinetown
A lot of smoke is in the air, as to be expected, so air quality is poor. Garages in Northdene don’t have fuel and none of the shoppes has any stock. Knowles in Pinetown is limiting people in-store and limits to 10 items per person while operating under limited business hours.
Scottburgh
My mom says the local Checkers store there isn’t accepting any cars into their parking lots as this is full of just people and queues. Again, limiting people in-store and limiting the number of items per person. This is greatly impacted by the fact the Umkomaas, Park Rynie, and Pennington are severely affecting the situation and there is no other shop in close proximity, so a lot of the surrounding areas are coming here to get goods.
Local dairy farmers in the region are unable to get their processed milk out and as such are throwing away hundreds of litres of milk down the drain. That which is still good and depending on what point in the process they stopped they are trying to supply a lot of the old age homes in the communities.
Lower South Coast (Hibberdene to Port Edward)
Hibberdene is shut down and overrun what I’ve heard, no one is going in or near there.
There have been reports in and around Pumula of the ongoings becoming very racial and the community (and my family) have been told to stock up on ammo and have had police escorts and Lazer security protecting and helping where necessary.
Port Shepstone I don’t have much as much family has been avoiding it. From what I have heard, the communities there are well-armed and working with (behind) the police to deter the protests and the community is well-armed with weapons the likes of the police haven’t seen or heard.
Shelly Beach’s South Coast Mall and Shelly Center are operating at limited time and capacity, while not limiting items, people are fighting over bread and milk where there is and standing queues are wrapping around the parking lots. That’s if you even get there as traffic queues are stretching for kilometres and at a standstill. My sister, in Uvongo, has her bags packed and car ready should they need to leave in a hurry.
Manaba and Margate is pretty f*ked (excuse the language), that being said the community are doing well and from what I can tell Spar stores are still operating until their stocks are finished (which now I think may be the case).
I’ve heard reports to avoid Port Edward at all costs and may as well remove it from the map.
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Don’t you have a 6-hour long BA meeting to attend or something else to do? 
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You mean spamming? 
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Ive been busy dammit
We had to go to the petrol station and lie about the fact that my car ran out of gas to get a 10L can filled so that the genny has petrol only to learn afterwards we could have just taken the genny to get filled. . . . .
Another 2 hours looking for a 9kg gas bottle
At least now I am at Nima’s for the weekend and hopefully I get to switch off completely. I need the break, the parental are driving me insane and my anxiety thru the roof, doesn’t help that it gets triggered when dad raises his voice - which he does at EVERYTHING
PS cant ever go to my all time fav petrol station again he kicked up a scene to get the gas can filled since its not allowed currently
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