It's worse when they're white.......

Although in general black means poor and white means rich, it doesn't mean that there are no black people who are rich or white people who are poor.
The other day I took a walk and within 10 minutes I came across these two white beggars. I have to admit that seeing white people on the streets has more of an impact on me than when I see black people beg. Bad isn't it? Like it is worse when beggars are white than when they are black. The only thing that makes me feel a little less awful is that Nelson Mandela himself made the same observation in his Long Walk To Freedom when he encountered a white beggar back in the fifties.
Since coming to o South Africa I am more aware of the differences between the different coloured people in the world. I.e. I am convinced that when a certain disease would kill hundreds of people a day in France of Germany or the UK the rest of the (western) world would stumble over each other to help or intervene. I don't see that in South Africa where HIV/Aids takes hundreds of lives a day. Sure, there are a lot of NGO's and people helping out. But a massive intervention? I don't think so.

Oh, in case you are wondering.....The guy in the top picture lives of a state pension of 850 rand a month. His rent is 700 rand a month. He worked al his life in the shipping industry as a welder. I asked him if he didn't save for an extra pension while working. Sure, he answered. But he has taken all the money out of the funds early and spend it on (in his own words) "cars, motorbikes and beautiful women".