At 02h53am on the 22nd of December 2024, when I was suddenly awoken by a swaying motion while asleep in my bed, I assumed the ship was listing in rough waters… But when I heard cupboard doors banging and my dangling wine glasses knock against one other, I leapt out of bed, realising all at once that this was no ship on the ocean and that something terrible was happening!

I used to work on massive cruise ships. Every so often, one would be woken up by rough seas causing the ship to sway. Most times this wasn’t unduly alarming. Very occasionally, it was a disaster.

In the aftermath of the tremor that had lasted less than 20 seconds but felt like an eternity, the apartment chat group lit up with concerned residents looking for reassurance. One of our elder and most vocal residents, who is usually first on the button, did not fail us. She sent a voice note immediately, informing us all that we’ve just had an earthquake, mentioning the time stamp and that her cat had been pestering her for an hour, obviously sensing something was coming.

Once everything had settled and my heart rate had normalised, I lay in bed thinking about how everything can indeed change in an instant. We know this, yet we live every day assuming that tomorrow will be the same. That we know what is around the corner. What do we really know? That South Africa does not have serious earthquakes? It never has. It is not on a fault line. And yet here we are: A 5.3 magnitude earthquake in the Northern Cape Province with tremors felt hundreds of kilometers away in Cape Town. Even while experiencing it first hand, it is difficult to convince oneself that it is real. Accepting this would mean the knowledge which thus far made us feel safe is not true.

What other ‘knowledge’ will be proven untrue in the coming days? What new truths will reveal themselves in 2025? And are we ready to accept them and adapt…