Among the green and quiet hills of the KwaZulu-Natal midlands, a former president was acquainting himself with his new home in a small town where cannibals roamed the streets not so long ago. He was yet to sit down for his first lunch when the stirring began. On the second day in the very next town along the N3, traffic would be halted. Plunder. Arson. Mooi River turned ugly. “We see you! Amandla”, the encouragement came in the form of tweets. This was only the beginning. A former president lost his dignity. Before the week was over, many lost their livelihoods. Some lost their lives. “We see you! Amandla” Not the pain, fear, desperation; Just the chaos, destruction, violence. Food. Black Label. Flatscreen. Fire… Food. Black Label. Flatscreen. Fire… Food. Black Label. Flatscreen. Fire… Food. Black Label. Flatscreen. Fire… Desperation. Frustration. Theft. Arson… Desperation. Frustration. Theft. Arson… Desperation. Frustration. Theft. Arson… Desperation. Frustration. Theft. Arson… “We see you! Amandla” Pietermaritzburg Durban Tweedie Soweto Alexandra Mamelodi Johannesburg Vandalism. Fear. Panic. “Parts of the country are reeling from several days and nights of public violence, destruction of property and looting of the sort rarely seen before in the history of our democracy,” said the new president. The origins may have been political, the fuel was something else, something deeper. Where might it end? “The level of unemployment, poverty and inequality in our society is unsustainable,” reminded the president. “We cannot expect a lasting and durable peace if we do not create jobs and build a more just and equitable society.” Stores looted. Property destroyed. Rubber bullets. Barricaded roads. Fire. Terror. Makro. Cake. Stampede. Death. Soldiers in the street. More unemployment. More frustration. More poverty. More disease. A boy’s body lies covered with a blanket in the dust in Vosloorus. A former president lost his dignity. “We see you! Amandla”