As we unravel the madness of recent days, one bright ray of sun is shining through the clouds: the power of community resilience. In towns and in suburbs, groups of individuals, joined by common boundaries and a respect for the rule of law have come together to ‘clean up’.
Compassionate citizens, of all creeds and colours, find themselves standing shoulder to shoulder, promising to rebuild, protect and defend their communities against lawlessness and chaos. It’s exactly what we need to stop Madiba turning in his grave. But if you’ve been looking into the hearts and minds of middle-class-and-up South Africa for the past decade, like we have at BrandMapp, it’s hardly unexpected. As the 2021 results show, our ‘hierarchy of care’ always starts very close to home with direct community being the most important thing in our lives, followed closely by country. Outside of that, everything pales.
Bottom line: if you mess with what people care about most, you may win a battle, but you’ll never win the war. ‘Amandla. Awethu!’ has never rung more true.
