No water, only blood

It is utterly ludicrous for WASA to be warning us to fix dripping faucets while their broken mains flood our streets and waste about 80 percent of the water produced by WASA.

The Minister of Public Utilities needs to open his eyes while he is being driven around. The chairman and board members of WASA need to wake up. How come I, and all of you can recognize dozens of leaking mains, and none in charge can see this? I mean, you are board members.

Is it that you actually do not see the amount of water wasting? Or do you see it and it does not connect with your brain that this is your responsibility? If we face a harsh dry season and run out of water, will you consider that this was your responsibility? There are five constantly running leaks within half a mile of where I live, and citizens have constantly reported these to WASA. Some enterprising reporter should investigate how many calls are required to get a leak repaired.

I call upon the Minister to wake up the board and instruct them to tell all their blind district engineers to locate and fix all the leaks now! I note you have just paid your contractors millions of overdue monies, so get them back to work and prevent our country running out of water because WASA, under all administrations, simply throws it all away.

And now to try to wash the bloodstains: Please understand that there is nothing sudden about what we are facing. It is just the upward sweep of the graph of the murders, and it will sweep upwards, with increasing undetected murders, for some time to come. This did not begin yesterday, and it will not end tomorrow, so stop fooling yourselves about hanging or praying, or our Prime Minister actually begging the boys to be a little nicer to each other.

When teenage girls are making babies whom they cannot care for, or educate, what do you think happens to those children? The boys sit by older boys who are spotters and runners for armed gangs, who are in the drug and other trades, and who treat murder as entertainment.

So what do the little boys of teenage mothers grow into? If there is nothing else in their lives but the gang, that is what they will grow into. For the few around who live in relatively stable homes within the gang areas, even their teachers make sure they challenge routine authority.

Let me explain: In 1985, we were setting up the stadium for an international friendly football match. Because it was a friendly, it was being held in the evening of a primary schools sports day. As the children were leaving the stadium via the marathon tunnel, a few of them walked on to the field— normal interest. A security guard told them politely “not on the field please”, and they all obediently began to walk off. This upset one of the teachers. She raised her voice imperiously: “Who say allyuh cyan go on de fiel’? Allyuh walk on the de fiel’ if allyuh want”! And the previously obedient children looked mockingly at the uniformed guard and strutted back on to the field. Those children would be in their thirties now, those who survived.

Do you understand the problem here folks? This year, pray for water, and for wisdom in understanding from where the blood is flowing.