Imtiaz Sooliman – Insightful, fearless Gift of the Givers founder on SAs looting locusts
AI: Summary ©
The speaker discusses four categories of people involved in the disaster, including those who are pro Zoma, criminal, and factory workers. They also mention a woman with a child who claims to be a driver and claims to be a woman with a child. The speaker describes people as being hungry and forgiving, and calls for people to help others and make things available.
AI: Summary ©
Well, most South Africans have heard of gift of the givers and
the founder and the man who drives at Dr Imtiaz Suleiman, MTS, maybe
just by way of background. There's quite a lot of rumor circulating
social media and elsewhere that your warehouse was looted. Well,
actually, well, it's not true number one, and secondly, it's
actually not my waist either. It's a warehouse that was used by a
person who was a volunteer, a business person who used to work
with us. He used to do deliveries and distributions. He would call
us and say, people I need here. Can you help? So we would send him
supplies in advance. He would park it off in that warehouse, and
within a day or two, he would deliver it. Now, unfortunately, in
January this year, the volunteer, his brother and his father, all
three second to covid, I lost all three of them, and as a result of
that, you know, we couldn't use the warehouse anymore. We had no
surprise in there, but it actually wasn't always. The tragedy of this
all is that yet serve the people so well, and yet people found it
appropriate to come and loot the warehouse, and eventually they
wouldn't burn it. How are you seeing this developing from here?
Clearly, people who are religious will think there has to be a
purpose, there has to be some reason for all of this, which is
being visited upon us. And I fascinated to hear your thoughts.
Well, you have to look at it. There's four categories of people
involved in this. The one is the pro Zoma camp, who said they are
doing setting this thing up because it's a political issue
within the ANC. Then came the criminal element, the looters, the
ones who took this as an opportunity fairly came the most
dangerous of all, the agent provocateurs. This thing was not
done spontaneously. This is well double, well organized, and it's
clear. I call these people traitors. They are people who are
trying to destabilize the country. Nobody attacks pharmaceutical
industries which have people. Nobody burns ambulances and
attacks paramedics. Nobody stops hospital workers and nurses to go
to hospital to give assistance to people of all races. Everything
done here was negative in the interest of South Africa, and if
you stay this, doing this for the people of South Africa, there's
something seriously wrong with your narrative. So you are the
traitors. And the fourth one is cannon fodder, ordinary people who
are hungry. Many of them are hungry. That's a fact. We witness
that over the last 15 months and opportunists guys are driving
Mercedes, BMWs, four by fours, rushing into catching cashing on
the TVs and all those kind of items, pure opportunist, but not
dangerous. And you have a woman with a child, and all types of
people you know, students, university students, all cashing
in an opportunity. Again, not violent people, but opportunistic
in what has happened. Now, if you look at all this, the narrative
started when, when people started defending themselves, where the
government has dismally failed its people and its citizens, you find
people started defending themselves, and the third force
then uses that as an opportunity to divide and rule and create the
hype around race and bringing race conflict to support the aim,
fortunately For the country itself and the maturity of the people on
the ground and several leaders you know among the community from all
race groups stood up and we're not going to accept this. You would
find the black, white, Indian and colored will stand together and
say, We defend this. This is not acceptable. People in different
parts of the country said, This is not acceptable. And what was the
turning point when San Carco and the taxi Association Association
said, We will not allow this to happen. No more malls are going to
be to be brought to be attacked. Your question is, from a religious
point of view, what has happened? It has united South Africans in an
incredible way. I've never seen so much of goodwill and support for
each other. Where communities who looted people are saying, even
among those communities the hungry people, we need to go back and
help them, where people are so forgiving and wanting to help each
other, and said, We need to stand with each other, make things
available, go to the informal settlement, see what their needs
are. Help. You know, an informal set of people will come forward
and said, Do you want us to be part of the very aid? Do you want
us to help and protect, to make sure looters don't come inside?
Yeah, it's an incredible sport. I've never seen anything in this
my 29 years of working disaster in South Africa. You.