As people we stand indicted… over a seriously wounded woman who was shown no compassion after a shooting incident. Instead, the bleeding woman was treated as if she were already dead.
A shocking video that has been widely shared shows a cellphone being shoved into the cabin of a bakkie just after its driver is shot dead and his female passenger wounded, bleeding profusely from her side.
In the video no-one reaches out to the woman. No-one offers a word of encouragement or holds her hand. She sits and groans, staring straight ahead in shock. “What is happening with our humanity?” is the videomaker’s comment as she zooms in on the woman’s bloodstained sweater.
The irony is precisely this: What is happening to our humanity? The woman died a few hours later in a Cape Town hospital.
Do incredibly violent scenes in movies, television series and video games perhaps contribute to this indifference? Has it made us insensitive to the suffering of others? Have we become so desensitised that someone bleeding out right before our eyes does not make us feel any empathy or make us feel the need to stop everything immediately and help her? Or, does fear play a role?
The West Coast community is experiencing more incidents in which so-called “protection money” is demanded. Non-payment has now become a death sentence. Hopefully, the police and the relevant authorities will catch this evil quickly before this form of exploitation gains a real foothold on the West Coast, especially in the construction industry, which is already cut-throat.
