Ellen's Tears...

By: Warrick Smith



Ellen is a 45 year old domestic worker who carries out her duties to three different ‘digs’ in Grahamstown. Having grown up in Vukani, a township just outside of the Grahamstown CBD, Ellen began her work as a domestic worker for students when she was 18 years old, she has been doing it all her life. She is married to Thabo and has two children, Phumelo and Doris, who have left the household. Ellen’s eldest son Thando, who would’ve been 24 this year died in a gang related incident in Vukani when he was 15 years old. First impressions of her indicate that she is much older than her actual age, her face reflects the heartache she has endured over the many years living in Vukani.

“Vukani is a horrible place to live. There is too much fighting and violence. The youth are always up to no good, they phuza, they smoke, they steal and they fight all the time. I have had enough of this rubbish, but what can I do?”, says a disheartened Ellen, “The other day, Thabo said to these boys who were making a noise outside our house at 2 o’clock in the morning, to shut up. Instead of the respect which I had learnt as a little girl, the boys threatened him and said they would kill him”. The worrying issue is that this would not be the first time that crime has affected her family. In 2000, her eldest son, Thando was stabbed outside a tavern in the early hours of the morning, he had been drinking there with a group of friends. Ellen says, “I cry for my boy all the time, whenever I see that shebeen, I see him lying there. I see his face and his shouts for me to help him. I cannot”. Months before Thando’s death he had been in and out of a group of youths who frequented taverns in the area and usually found themselves in trouble with the police and other residents in the area. “He wasn’t with good people, they made him come with them to be a ‘man’. But they took him from me, my only son”, Ellen weeps, “I hate those men, those criminals. Thando was not a criminal”.

Ellen explains that the police did little to try help her find her son’s murderer, although she did not expect their assistance. According to her, the police viewed Thando as a criminal or gang member and that his association with the gangs lead to his demise and they should not be expected to identify the responsible party. “They told me that I had let him become a criminal and that they wouldn’t get involved. The police at the time did not care for us in the township. It was a hard time”, says, a teary-eyed Ellen.

Having recently conducted a Critical Media Production in the area of Vukani and Fingo Village, the group members encountered an uninterested and unmotivated police force. Having gathered reports of police response time to be approximately three hours late, we investigated the issue and confirmed the significant disinterest in the area. Reports from whites within middle class areas had an almost instantaneous response from the police, which brought to our attention an issue which needs to be addressed.

The inequalities which residents who, like Ellen, live in impoverished areas of Grahamstown are completely unacceptable. In order for the successful combating of crime and the promotion of community policing the police service need to be involved in all areas to at equal levels. People like Thando or Ellen or anyone in the community needs to be protected and the law needs to be enforced so as to prevent crime. Until then, Ellen’s tears won't dry.