Kimeshen Raman, the chairman of the Aaria Foundation, an organisation against children and women abuse, and a resident of Durban, has written a heartfelt letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa.
“Mr President firstly my hats off to you, this had been no easy task been in your position, but Mr President we the people deserve to know this, why were we left vulnerable over the last few days? Why did it take so long to deploy law enforcement, why was our police stations not equipped to handle the situation, why we as a country allowed such atrocities to carry on for days before trying to bring peace, the death toll sitting at 212, why did we have to lose 212 lives before we have been given some assistance? I ask why and I know no answers will be given but we deserve them.”
To read the full letter, see below :
Dear Mr President,
I am coming to you from the ground, my name is Kimeshen Raman. I am Indian by race but I was born South African, same as most of our country. I used to be proud to be South African. The criminal activities that have happened in the past few days has left me shocked and left me embarrassed to be South African. The looting, the destruction to property, the killings, the damage to our economy has broken my heart. What we need to realize is that with a population of just over 60 million people, only a handful was out there doing this. Yes they were in mobs, in crowds of thousands but take that crowd and put it against the population of our beautiful country, it is small. We are a culturally diverse country. I have schooled here with our fellow blacks, whites, coloureds and Indians. I have worked with the same, we have sat at the same table to share a meal. The racial profiling needs to stop immediately, the people shouldn’t suffer for a few rotten eggs amongst us millions. We shouldn’t suffer for the political war between the ANC.
Our people are suffering now, hungry, jobless and some even homeless. My feet have been on the ground and I am more proud than ever to be South African. Neighbour’s, friends, family and those we don’t even know, gathered to help. It is amazing to see a diverse community, all stand together to protect each other, our elderly, sickly and young. We are a rainbow nation and we will stand strong, we will rebuild and we will be better than ever. Our spirits cannot be broken, we are now stronger than ever.
Mr President, firstly my hats off to you, this had been no easy task being in your position, but Mr President we the people deserve to know this, why were we left vulnerable over the last few days? Why did it take so long to deploy law enforcement? Why was our police stations not equipped to handle the situation? Why did we as a country allow such atrocities to carry on for days before trying to bring peace. The death toll is sitting at 212, why did we have to lose 212 lives before we have been given some assistance? I ask why and I know no answers will be given, but we deserve them.
The looters of South Africa I ask you this, what did you achieve? Some nice expensive material items. Will that feed your families? Will that give your families a better life? You burnt down the buildings after looting it, what did that achieve you? You work at those buildings. Your friends and family work at those buildings. All are now unemployed, no income and left to die of starvation. You burnt places of religion, you burnt down schools, and this makes me so angry. We all want a better life for our children, without the schools what better life do we have? What future do our children have? What makes it worse, is the food that you looted was thrown, wasted and damaged while people are starving. Look at the lines outside shops of people trying to get essentials. Look at those faces, some are even your family members, your parents, your grandparents, starving because you have decided to destroy and steal. You have destroyed our beautiful country, you have destroyed a rainbow nation and for what? A TV, a new radio or even a new pair of shoes? Well I hope it was worth it for you because I guarantee you that in a few days’ time, you will be in the same line, waiting for hours because you are hungry. Politics has played a very important part in what has happened in the past few days but let me ask you, while those politicians that have instigated this are sitting in their posh homes, driving their posh cars, eating good food, what do you have? When I talk to the looters I don’t talk to a specific race, I talk to South Africans. The videos have gone around and it’s all our people involved. I have seen whites, Indians, coloureds and blacks looting. You are all responsible, so when your kids ask you why we are suffering, I want you to stand up and say it is because of me.
To the people of South Africa, the majority, I want to thank you. I want to say that we have something good that came out of all this and you may ask me what can be good? We have come together, we have become united, we have met our neighbours, neighbours that we have lived next to for years without knowing who they are. We have stood strong and protected our communities. We have stood strong and cleaned up our communities and now we are standing even stronger to take care of our communities. Our land is starving but with people like you, we will rebuild, we will regrow, and we will be united. We are our own shepard and we will do what the government has failed in doing. Numerous organizations are busy out there arranging basic supplies to our people. They have all come together from other provinces to make sure we don’t starve, now that is a rainbow nation, that is Ubuntu.
I don’t belong to any political party, I am just an ordinary citizen like each one of you. In conclusion I would like to say keep doing what we doing and thank you for the support, I have never been more proud to be South African.
#Humanlivesmatter #SouthAfricaisburning #Ubuntu
Some inspiration from our freedom fighters:
“We were expected to destroy one another and ourselves collectively in the worst racial conflagration. Instead, we as a people chose the path of negotiation, compromise and peaceful settlement. Instead of hatred and we chose reconciliation and nation-building.” Nelson Mandela
“We are not fighting against people, we are fighting against a system.” Oliver Tambo
“The truth is that we are not yet free; we have merely achieved the freedom to be free, the right not to be oppressed. We have not taken the final step of our journey, but the first step on a longer and even more difficult road. For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. The true test of our devotion to freedom is just beginning.” Archbishop Desmond Tutu
“Freedom comes with responsibility. We must continue to work together, each making their own contribution to build a South Africa that is free of poverty, inequality and unemployment.” Jacob Zuma
“All what we fought for is not what is going on right now. It is a tragedy that he lived and saw what was happening. We cannot pretend like South Africa is not in a crisis. Our country is in a crisis and anyone who cannot see that is just bluffing themselves.” Winnie Madikizela-Mandela
Kimeshan Raman (Chairman of Aaria Foundation | Durban)
