This weekend the Sunday Times reported on a horrific human tragedy. In case you skipped over page 5, here’s what happened. In the middle of last week, 32-year-old Russel Makhubela poisoned his two-year-old daughter Phiwokuhle and tried to kill himself at the same time. That morning, as he went out to collect wood to heat their small shack, he had told his wife, Thanduzile, that he was “tired of struggling”. The couple live in the sprawling informal settlement of Lawley, south of Johannesburg, and on the day Thanduzile reported: “My husband came back and said, ‘What’s the use of collecting firewood, because at the end of the day we will have nothing to eat tomorrow’.” Russel had complained of “the burden” (read indignity) of being the breadwinner but always having to ask his sister for money. He had previously been a security officer, but his registration had lapsed as he couldn’t afford the fees.