Social capital alive and well in South Africa!

There was a nasty accident on Glenhove Road this morning involving 2 cars colliding at a junction. What was interesting was that a number of people - pedestrians and other motorists - immediately stopped to help. One was on the phone within seconds to call the emergency services, some others were immediately attending to the two drivers involved, another person started directing the traffic safely round the scene. Without any apparent coordination, people immediately took on roles that seemed to them to be useful at the time. I chose not to stop as I was a distance away, and my take on the situation was that everything was quickly under control and there was no useful additional role that I could play at the time.

This is in a country that apparently, according to the World Values Survey, has low levels of trust and in which people are supposed not to trust strangers (trust is generally understood to be a key aspect of social capital in a community). Tracy Jooste has conducted research in the Western Cape (www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0002147/index.php) that suggests we need a more nuanced understanding of 'trust' and that despite the generalised distrust of strangers in the above Survey, people are quite willing to trust neighbours and workplace colleagues.

The incident above confirms for me that we have an abundance of trust and willing engagement in South Africa, and that it shows itself everyday in smaller and larger ways, if only we are willing to recognise and appreciate it, and see that it is the people who make up our land.