Chile Mine saga

I joined millions around the world this morning to watch as 18-year-old Jimmy Sanchez emerged from the capsule that had brought him to the surface from an otherwise 700 meter deep tomb. This ended a 69 day ordeal for him and others due for rescue today.

There can be little doubt that that the whole world feels so good about the rescue. In addition, we all, just for the moment, feel a strong bond with the families of the trapped miners and the Chilean people.

I also feel deep sadness as I recall what happened in my country of birth.

"In June, 1972, one of the greatest natural disasters to hit the country took place, when an underground explosion occurred in Wankie No.2 Colliery. Four hundred and twenty-six miners lost their lives - thirty six Europeans and three hundred and ninety Africans. Apart from the one hundred and seventy-six Rhodesians who died, there were ninety-one Zambians, fifty-two from Mozambique, thirty-seven from Malawi, thirty Tanzanians, fourteen Britons, twelve South Africans, nine from South West Africa, four from the Caprivi Strip, and one from Botswana. The disaster provoked reaction throughout the world, and messages of sympathy poured in from all quarters, and included those from Queen Elizabeth, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, the British Foreign Secretary, the Pope, and the Prime Minister of South Africa, Mr. B. J. Vorster.” (Excerpt from the book: - The Reluctant President, The Memoirs of the Hon. Clifford Dupont).

At the time I worked in the courts. One of the consequences of the disaster was that thereafter any number of accused persons would seek to gain sympathy from the court by claiming that his/her father had perished in the mine. Only a smattering of these claims were true.

M, my friend from Mars, is somewhat bemused as to how the world tends to unite when faced with natural disasters like Haiti, tsunamis, hurricane Katrina … etc … but is paralyzed as regards man made disasters like Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, Zimbabwe … etc.

“It seems to me” he muses “that, as a species, you regard nature as a true enemy. Perhaps that is why you have little respect for nature and are busy destroying your planet.

  I try to argue but give up when he reels off the grim facts starting with the 60 million odd bison that were nearly wiped out in the US, the 2 billion passenger pigeons that were wiped out, the slaughter of our whales, the denuding of the Amazon rain forests and our fish stocks … the list is endless.

 

“It is clear to me” he concludes “that, as long as it suits your so called leaders and big business,in particular, you don’t mind too much what destruction and mayhem is wreaked on the planet and your own species”.

Uh ... oh ... Does someone have an answer?