True Story

An open letter to Geordin Hill-Lewis, mayor of Cape Town, And Alan Winde, premier of the Wester Cape

Dear Geordin and Alan,

I am writing an open letter to you in the hope that you will be calm and read to the end. I write because I believe that you have no idea about what it is like to not be white in the violent and extremely racist and polarised city of Cape Town. And I want you to know. I want you to at least make an effort to understand so that you can see your role in perpetuating this dire inequality. It is important that you do not ever get an opportunity to say you didn’t know.

I want to explain this to you by telling you a true story. I will leave out real names to protect the most vulnerable here, the person whose life is in the balance.

Today I went to a local supermarket to by fruit and veg. I go most early Sunday mornings, because the store is quiet. I have been doing this for many years. I know many of the shop assistants and cashiers, some of them by name. Today I saw that ‘Busi’'s till was available and I made a beeline to her, because we always have a good chat. Her eyes were clouded over, behind her glasses. When I asked her if she was okay she struggled to control her emotions. I persisted. Waited.

The management of the supermarket has changed. ‘Busi’, who has been working there for 22 years, is now being treated with total disrespect and dismissiveness. She is not allowed to have a phone on her, or receive a call from her children’s school while she is on duty. She has not been recognised for her years of service or for how her customers adore her. All the staff are being treated like school children. ‘Busi’ is devastated and filled with helpless rage.

She lives in Philippi with her two children. She spends R1200 of her less than R8000 monthly salary on transport. She works six days a week. There is no public transport for her and she must rely on minibus taxis to get to and from work. She has debt because she has bought her children’s uniforms on account. She was burgled recently. Children in gangs broke through her burglar bars and stole her phone and TV.

‘Busi’ is not in a position to lose her job, however dehumanising and traumatic it has become. She is bound into this situation that is robbing her of any sense of value, of meaning. And ‘Busi’ is one of hundreds of thousands of people in our city who are being exploited, abused, ignored, punished, and sacrificed, in order for the ‘beautiful city of Cape Town’ to run smoothly.

I don’t know what it will take for you to let down your guards, stop building walls, and see this place for what it really is - but I do know that if you don’t it will go up in flames.

Work, education, healthcare, public transport, accommodation close to where poor people work. These are what you need to hold at the top of your agenda. These are the things people in this city need. And you are not listening. You do not see poor people as deserving, or human, or equal. And the cost of you ignoring this will be very high, higher than your deep pockets and who lines them.

You don’t listen to people like me, but I wish you would.