On Sunday, 11 July 1999, in an unprecedented demonstration of anger, concern and sympathy, the South African public protested en masse for the freedom of the Tuli baby elephants.

I was among the thousands of people who gathered that day outside African Game Services near Brits where the elephants are being kept. It was a day I felt proud to be a South African.

The crowds consisted of a cross section of life. Animal lovers with their dogs, school children with placards, entire families, the old and the very young, all gathered in emotional unity and solidarity to declare "Enough!" Children with teardrops painted on their faces chanted their feelings alongside leather clad, tattooed, big-hearted bikers.

Never before had South Africans rallied together in such numbers in reaction to a wildlife issue. It was a telling and moving occasion.

A woman approached me and said that she was there (like everyone else) to express her feelings about the whole Tuli elephant scandal and to express her concern for the elephants’ future. She then quietly told me of the recent death of her daughter – shot by criminals. As she spoke tears fell slowly from her eyes and I realised that the public’s outpouring that day was not only about the elephants but, consciously or unconsciously, about so much more. It was about the public yearning for a more compassionate and caring society in this country.

The sight of a young elephant, an innocent, being beaten, sparked the public outrage and this reaction may represent a positive turning point in our country. Be it brutality against animals or humans, the South African public is no longer remaining silent – and the government must take cognisance of this.

It is no coincidence that, for example, in the same week of the public’s outpouring for the Tuli elephants, members of the Cape Flats communities were pulling together and clearing vegetation near dwellings which otherwise might have hidden stalking rapists; and that, rightly or wrongly, vigilante groups were forming in reaction to the crime in this country.

Just as the Tuli elephants yearn for the environment from which they were wrenched, we too yearn for a normalised society. We yearn for a society where children can play freely without fear of molestation, where woman can walk without fear of rape and where people can live in the spirit of Ubuntu (I am, because of others) and be supportive of one another. The elephants are us, we are the elephants.

In the same way as the Tuli baby elephants need to be returned to their natural and normal environment and society (and hopefully soon will), so too do we need to return to a society of humaneness and compassion. God bless every man, woman and child who gathered together, unified for the baby elephants. Above everything else, the thousands of people who gathered there last Sunday demonstrated that we still have a great capacity to care – and therein lies hope for the animals and, ultimately, ourselves.