Do the privileged have the right to speak on behalf of the underprivileged?

Following the looting that took place in South Africa, the political and social status quo has been one of upheaval, unrest, or more appropriately, chaos. I've seen countless people argue about whether the looting that occurred or is currently occurring in some parts of the country is wrong or right, followed by a soliloquy to back up their answer(s).Not once were any of the ‘transgressors’ asked for their reasoning behind their actions, and if they were asked, they were caricatured or were shown in a light that reinforces the stereotypical views we have of ‘them’.

The privileged are blind to the plight of people who have experienced or are currently experiencing abject poverty. Those who have never slept without food in their belly, nor have the knowledge of what it is like to go without their basic needs being met, will truly understand their plight.

Our sympathy and empathy do not qualify us to speak on a situation we have not experienced.This article is by no means condoning what happened, nor is it passing judgement on issues that some cannot relate to. Those who cannot relate should not be arrogant enough to believe they can understand what it is like to be the breadwinner of a family with no financial security, nor should they engage in hypothetical discussions about how they would have done the "right thing" if they were in the same situation.

Deliberating on such matters is futile if the affected people are not invited to speak for themselves. No one can articulate a problem better than the people that are affected by those said issues. Our country is experiencing record levels of unemployment. The pandemic served as a catalyst to an already strained, strapped and struggling economy. Ever since the advent of our democracy, our country has been a political powder keg, and this has been exacerbated by the fallacy of a rainbow nation.

Unfortunately, the recent events were unavoidable.It is impractical to believe that the obscenely rich and the poor can live in close proximity and coexist peacefully, a la Alexandra and Sandton. Once again, it should be stressed that this article is not meant to exonerate the looters, nor is it a conclusion that those who have not experienced poverty should refrain from having a viewpoint on this matter.

It would be remiss not to acknowledge that some people participated in the looting, not as an act of defiance, but as opportunists who took advantage of a bad situation and distorted, diverted, and diminished an event that had the potential to be a game changer.This is the case with Mbuso Moloi, who allegedly looted Woolworths while driving a Mercedes Benz. He is still facing jail time for what he did. There were many people who looted out of greed, and some were brazen enough to record videos of themselves gloating and showing off their loot.

This piece is not discussing these opportunists but focusing on the people who are exasperated by a system that has continuously failed them yet continuously uses them for votes and discards them once the transaction has been completed. Poverty is fetishized, romanticized, or worse, overly simplified by those who have not experienced it. As someone who is pursuing a PhD degree in political science, I may be able to provide a dissertation as to why the looting will be detrimental to the country’s economy, but what good is that for someone who has the immediate need to feed a family without an income? Being black does not give me a pass to speak on poverty, and it should be taken into account that some black people, as it was so brilliantly articulated and dubbed the "clever blacks" by South Africa's former President Jacob Zuma, may actually be passively contributing towards perpetuating poverty.

Poor people are ‘othered’, sidelined, and denied a seat at the table. When they are allowed into the room, the door is kept ajar so that they can be utilised as the face of ‘poverty’ when it is time to take out the begging bowl to the Masters in the West, in order to acquire funding for projects that will not uplift their mascots. To some, the underprivileged serve as trinkets, which are discarded when they cease to serve their purpose.

As a privileged person, I am utilising my privilege and education to uplift underprivileged women by assisting them to acquire skills as well as assisting them through their educational journey through the ABET centre that I run with my mother. I am not delusional enough to believe that my actions alone can eradicate poverty, but if all of us do something to sustainably empower the less privileged, then it will be a step in the right direction.

(Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.