The family of Kulani Mathebula, who was stabbed to death near his school, Mondeor High School, south of Johannesburg, watches his lifeless body being loaded into an ambulance, 13 March 2018. Picture: Nigel SibandaWhat does it cost the average South African parent to put a child through school? For too many parents, the real answer is everything.
As depressing a perspective as this is, it is a reality for thousands of people you may have passed on the street today, marching on in long lines for the daily commute, hooting rudely behind you in traffic or serving you from behind a counter. We are not, in any official sense, a country in conflict the way many other African countries are and where children learn to use a gun before they learn to use a pen. Yet, the rate at which children are killing and dying could rival that of countries fighting insurgency.