Witnessing a revolution - the anxieties of looming unrest

The tragic events of the last two years have taken a heavy toll on many people and me worldwide.

A pandemic, which humans see once every 100 years, has caused massive disruptions and millions of casualties.

We are deeply troubled by the war caused by Russia's surprise invasion of Ukraine, a conflict that has sparked food insecurity and a rapid increase in the global prices of oil and fuel. Politicians all over the globe are being looked at under a magnifying class.

At the beginning of 2021, The United States of America (USA) saw the capitol buildings stormed by a large crowd of insurrectionists.

As of this year, protests broke out over the Supreme Court's wildly-unpopular decision to overturn Roe v Wade, taking away the constitutional right to abortion and leaving decisions up to conservative, federal actors.

America's close ally, the United Kingdom, also found itself in a spot of bother with the incumbent conservative party forced to oust its sitting prime minister Boris Johnson after one too many embarrassing scandals.

One only has to look at the island nation of Sri Lanka to see the frustration and anger of the ordinary citizens. Sri Lanka, the Asian continent's first democratic state, is now on the brink of collapse, much like the original democracy, Greece, in 2009. A country well known for its rolling hills of tea, beautiful island resorts, and competitive cricket team, has descended into chaos. The people have accused the leader of corruption and nepotism. After landing the country in financial turmoil, much of the blame rested on the shoulders of the now former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

The people of Sri Lanka could take no more and embark on a nationwide strike that culminated in the storming of the president and prime minister's official residences, inevitably forcing the resignation and exile of Rajapaksa and his cabinet. Much like many other leaders in democracy, Sri Lanka has reached the end of the road.

Retrospectively, this should have been somewhat expected, considering the ethnic battle between the Sinhalese and Tamil people that lead to bloodshed and Civil War. Protest action has been going on for over 100 days after months of increasing inflation, rising food costs, and fuel prices.

As political unrest unfolds around the world, I cannot help but see the warning signs in my own country, South Africa.

We face similar challenges to Sri Lanka as a nation, sadly all too familiar with political strife and unrest.

Rising food and fuel prices and increasing inflation, coupled with over ten years of rolling blackouts due to various issues, have created a cauldron of pressure - just waiting to explode.

South Africans are resilient people. We are well accustomed to hardships and disappointments.

We've had to be.

Our people have watched as the ruling party has spent 27 years making empty promises to their supporters and using their platforms to enrich their lives whilst the country crash lands into disaster.

1 in 5 South Africans live below the poverty line. About 11 million of our people live on less than R28/day. As the promises of a liberated future slowly but surely disappear, the question remains whether the general populace of this country will decide to make their voices heard - either in the general elections in 2024 or looming protest and unrest.

I only hope that if change does arrive, it doesn't come on the back of the looting and lawlessness, as Durban saw in July 2021.

After all, the world has praised South Africa for transitioning from an oppressive apartheid regime to a glorious, democratic republic 28 years ago.

I believe we can strive for peace once again.