Covid-19: containment and providing a pause for reflection on equality in SA

CAPE TOWN – The contrast between those that have and those that do not, was apparent even before the institution of the lockdowns – all over the world. Here in South Africa, already judged the most unequal society in the world, that divide has been well and truly deepened.

Yet, it is not all doom and gloom.

Whether a wholesale economic lockdown is warranted or not, the pause we find ourselves in at present, is a priceless opportunity to take stock, not only of the fragility of our economy or the interconnectedness and interdependence of the world markets on one another, but on our own personal situations, philosophies and outlook. How we, as individuals, fit into the world and what we could be doing to assist one another to level the playing fields once and for all.

In my own reflective moments, I cannot help but be drawn to the natural system of order and nature’s intrinsic symbiotic relationships.

I am no naturalist, but it strikes me that animals look after their own, and while there is a hierarchy everyone has a seat at the table. Nature does the same, but in general, what does man bring to the natural world other than his own greed and desire for dominion over others and nature?