NO WATER FOR 16 DAYS. THE POLITICIANS ARE IN REHEARSAL.
This is the brutal, unforgiving split-screen of South Africa right now. In Melville, Johannesburg, resident Susan Jobson holds a sign of desperation. She has been without running water for SIXTEEN DAYS—a photo by The Citizen captures her quiet fury on a bone-dry main street.
Meanwhile, in Cape Town, the government is in full dress rehearsal. Gallo Images photos show the stage being set for President Cyril Ramaphosa’s grand State of the Nation Address. The polished floors, the prepared podium—a world away from the empty buckets and boiling frustration in Melville.
This isn’t just a protest. This is a system screaming in failure. Helen Zille is holding press conferences about the crisis, but the taps remain dry. The IPID is testifying about a compromised justice system, while citizens can’t even get the most basic service.
LOOK AT THE PICTURES. The evidence is undeniable. A woman salvages what’s left after a cyclone in Madagascar. Palestinians crawl through a checkpoint in the West Bank. The world is burning, and in Johannesburg, the elite are polishing their speeches.
Why does this keep happening? Who benefits from a distracted, dehydrated public? The patterns are clear: ceremony over service, promises over pipes. They want you focused on the Olympic Games, on political commissions—on anything but the collapse happening in your own home.
While they rehearse their lines of unity and progress, your reality is a 16-day thirst. This is the real state of the nation.
They have water for their stage, and you have none for your glass.
Edited for Kayitsi.com
Author: Kayitsi.com
