Soweto mall: liberals sneer
Soweto sports a glitzy new mall. Here’s how the Sowetan describes it:
Situated on the Old Potchefstroom Road near Nancefield , the 65 000 square–metre upmarket and trendy mall has proven to be a major drawcard for retailers eager to claim a share of the estimated R4,3 billion Soweto consumer market.
The R650 million mega-shopping complex, with lots of shopping to die for, will house haute couture’s Mertique as one of the “Soweto firsts”.
The huge township south-west of Johannesburg (its name is an acronym), is rising, to quote the cover of an issue of Maverick1from a few months ago. (Its single-minded focus on print is worth it, if you get it in print, but its website suffers for it.)
The Sowetan must be very out of touch with Soweto. The place has hardly been opened, when Business Report lamented the fact that consumers will now no longer choose small-scale retailers, because the mall will trump them in quality, service, convenience, or price:
Today’s opening of the multimillion-rand Maponya mall in Soweto is grim for business people operating in its environs, who fear for their daily takings and future prospects.
A friend e-mailed a line from the Associated Press report on the opening, in which Richard Maponya, the entrepreneur behind the scheme, declares: “I was convinced that the people really needed a mall.”
“It tells you everything about the modern state of humanity,” this friend wrote. “All everyone needs is a mall, Facebook and a Lotto ticket — and they have friends, a place to shop and some false hope.”
Only people who do have malls can pretend to sneer at them. Choice, economic activity, convenience, those are things that people do want. That’s why malls are popular. To me, it reflects positively on the state of humanity.
People frequent malls because it improves their lives. They’ve done so since the first village markets were established. They make shopping faster and more convenient. They offer more choice in one place. They offer security for shoppers and shopkeepers alike. They create competition which drives prices down. In the end, customers — the ordinary people of Soweto — can have more time on their hands and more money to spare, should they so choose. The Maponya Mall will improve the real quality of life in Soweto, and as all trade does, will create spinoff benefits and growth.
Yes, it also improves the perceived quality of life of the residents. Haute couture is neither a necessity in life nor a panacea for unhappiness. However, it is short-sighted, patronising and hypocritical for rich liberals to sneer at the poor when they too get to enjoy some of the convenience, efficiency, choice and luxury that wealthier people take for granted.
Sometimes I think the rich don’t deserve their lifestyles. Then I think, “Slippery slope!” Before I know it I’ll be wearing a brand-name Che Geuvara t-shirt. No. Let some liberal hypocrite wear it. I know one or two Business Report journalists who do. It suits them.
- Disclosure: I write for Maverick as a freelance columnist and occasional journalist. [↩]
Ivo,
You know some liberal Business Report journalists who wear Che Geuvara(sic) t-shirts? I doubt it. There was a time. But no more.
Heya, Alastair. Welcome :)
To answer you, I do. If it is no more, I’d be surprised, and it would be a fairly recent development. But a welcome one.
While I’m commenting on this post, just a note on labels: I usually avoid the term “liberal”, and probably should have done so here. Self-described liberals often aren’t (they are just left-wing, welfare statists), and it confuses them with “classical liberals”. The term has been much abused, and though its original meaning is intact, it often causes more confusion than necessary. I’ll write a post on labels and their use and abuse one day.
fifa must sell ticket over the counter.