Consequences be damned

Mail & Guardian

23-05-2025

Upshot: Just maybe the burst pipe in the neighbouring suburb is the cause of our latest water woes. Photo: WaterCAN
The bleak, washed-out blue sky and pollution-smudged horizons are upon us in Johannesburg, and how we regret all the whinging that went with the many consecutive days of cloud-covered rainy days that we experienced not so long ago.
As we pile on the layers of clothing to deal with the first real cold front of winter, we know that it is only going to get worse. The sky will fade so much that it ends up looking like a pair of jeans that has spent many years being washed in the harshest washing powder. And these jeans are now being worn by an old-school mechanic who still believes in lying on a dirty floor to slide under cars to do repairs.
A white-knuckle ride on the highways with the deadly game of keep-right-pass-left playing out around you reveals a depressing vista. In the areas where there are fewer buildings are occupied by the toxic-looking remnants of mine dumps, some trees with bare brown branches and open veld with yellowed grasses often blackened by fires.
And without any hope of a cleansing afternoon downpour the smoke and pollution hangs heavy in the air.
The consequences of all this are severe damage to our mental and physical health. It might make for stunning sunsets but the shockingly polluted air plays havoc with our respiratory systems. Colds, fly, sinus problems and hacking coughs make the winter months unbearable.
And the relentless colour palette of dirty grey, brown and sickly yellow leave us longing to escape to somewhere where there are better colours on offer. The sparkling blue of the sea and the bright greens of lush vegetation.
Those fortunate enough to live in these more pleasant surroundings will sit back smugly and say we are suffering the consequences of choosing to make Johannesburg our home.
To 'suffer the consequences' seems like such a quaint concept, something that our parents would say to us when we were irresponsible teenagers.
There are countless examples in the world we live in of people who don't conform to the definition of 'suffer the consequences. It means: 'to accept and deal with the results of a particular action or situation, often ones that are bad or not convenient.'
We all know about the 'bad' consequences but we also know that it is not the people responsible for this who are suffering. The thousands of children dying of starvation in Gaza are a particularly shocking example.
At a more local level there are many examples of 'not convenient' consequences. As I sit at home writing this, our latest water outage has extended to more than 48 hours. Our ward councillor has posted a video of water gushing from a leak in a pipe in the neighbouring suburb that can only be described as resembling one of the sluice gates in the Vaal Dam being opened.
He thinks this 'might have something to do' with our lack of water. May 'bad' consequences rain down upon those responsible for the shocking state of our water supply.
Another 'not convenient' situation is a result of traffic cops having a quota of traffic fines to fill and finding it much easier, and probably safer, to do this at a completely innocuous three-way stop in the suburbs.
There's mayhem on the roads just a block away but a disproportionately large gang of cops prefer to lurk behind some parked cars and wait to pounce on law-abiding drivers who have dared not to come to a complete stop when making a left-hand turn at the three-way stop.
And even if you do come to a complete stop you are not safe. 'Ah, Mr Stephen, you failed to stop with your wheels behind the line,' says the formidable woman in the tight uniform, just waiting for the slightest hint of irritation in my voice. Definitely 'not convenient'.
Or how about the long list of consequences generated by the electricity problem? These have been well publicised for years but there are more minor ones that are 'not convenient', especially for my blood pressure.
All over Joburg there are spaghetti-like clusters of wires that indicate there are people enjoying free electricity from illegal connections. There are also many timid people in the suburbs who scrape together the money every month to pay their ever-increasing bill from City Power.
We know that complaining about the regular power interruptions won't work and we dread having to become embroiled in a dispute over our bills. The mere mention of a visit to the offices in Braamfontein is more shocking than a week going by without a power outage.
So we always pay. You would think that as good 'customers' we would be treated with some care and consideration. But, no, if the monthly payment is delayed, even by a day or two, an email arrives with the frightening heading 'Pre-termination notice'.
You can bet those people with the long, drooping wires snaking into their homes don't get 'pre-termination notices'.
As the winter deepens with the days of sunlight getting shorter and the dark nights getting longer, as our skin dries out in the moistureless atmosphere and cries out for the application of expensive lotions, it is hard not to become resigned to the fact that the innocent suffer the consequences while the culprits carry blissfully on with their lives.
And then the human race overturns our assumptions once again. The Japanese minister of agriculture has resigned after saying, amid soaring food prices, that he doesn't buy rice because he gets it for free