The next two months we worked at the Sheraton and we fell into a regular routine but it was not without it's interesting moments. Paz told me about a political discussion she had with an Irish girl in her room. She shocked them all by supporting Thatcher, then knocked their socks off by saying that she was against the dole (unemployment benefits) as it encourages people not to look for work, adding that the unemployed should be more enterprising.
These girls in horror exclaimed "shame, but some people just can't get work, how would they survive without the dole?" "Don't they have social security in South Africa?"
"No" said Paz with a straight face.
"Well what do poor people do? There must be poor people in South Africa".
"Yes" Paz replied, "well, in South Africa plastic bags are free. So using these bags and pieces of corrugated iron that people find, together with some stones, they build a home. Now these turn into squatter camps so they usually situate themselves around a tap so that they have water. Also the farms don't have fences so the poor pilfer a little so that they don't starve."
These Brits sat, jaws dropped in shock.
Paz continued, "When I think of poverty I think of third world countries like India, Ethiopia. I don't think of a cosy council house and the dole."
Paz's socio-economic attitudes are not as drastic as the ones she expressed, but it got across the point, that their idea of "being poor" is still luxury for some.
These girls in horror exclaimed "shame, but some people just can't get work, how would they survive without the dole?" "Don't they have social security in South Africa?"
"No" said Paz with a straight face.
"Well what do poor people do? There must be poor people in South Africa".
"Yes" Paz replied, "well, in South Africa plastic bags are free. So using these bags and pieces of corrugated iron that people find, together with some stones, they build a home. Now these turn into squatter camps so they usually situate themselves around a tap so that they have water. Also the farms don't have fences so the poor pilfer a little so that they don't starve."
These Brits sat, jaws dropped in shock.
Paz continued, "When I think of poverty I think of third world countries like India, Ethiopia. I don't think of a cosy council house and the dole."
Paz's socio-economic attitudes are not as drastic as the ones she expressed, but it got across the point, that their idea of "being poor" is still luxury for some.
Photo by Fiona L cooper
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