THROWN INTO THIN AIR
T’S an image that sent shockwaves I around the world: a terrified mother tossing her toddler from a burning building as a crowd on the ground reach their arms up to grab the child.
Holding her head in her hands, the young mom waits to see if her daughter lands safely into the embrace of the sea of strangers. She does – and the footage of the child flying through the air towards outstretched arms has become symbolic of the horror and the hope that have characterised one of the darkest periods in South Africa’s history.
Wanton destruction on the one hand, the banding together of people
