Rani Zaafan used to roam the streets shouting “I am angry”, which eventually became his catch phrase among those who came across him in central Algeria.
Although it has been five years since Zaafan mysteriously passed away, images and videos of his antics still stoke public opinion across Algeria on the issue of homelessness.
This was evident when thousands of Algerians shared a video of Zaafan caught by a YouTube vlogger that received nearly one million views in less than 24 hours.
Blogger Anes Tina’s video titled “Rani Zaafan” was published on Friday and was used to criticize the current situation of homeless people in Algeria. The title quickly became one of the top trending hashtags on twitter.
The blogger appeared looking like the famous homeless man, who died in 2012 under mysterious circumstances, while walking through the most important Algerian streets in which the late Zaafan used to roam, such as the Central Post Districts, Murad Didiouche Street, the Central University and Hussein Dai Street in central Algeria.
The vlogger dressed in a similar fashion to Zaafan with worn out and unwashed clothes, reminding locals of the late homeless Algerian.
The blogger expressed in the video the despair, pain, anger and frustration that many Algerians feel about their current realities across several fields. He highlighted the most important social problems which Algerian youth face; from unemployment and illegal immigration, in addition to the absence of social justice among the different social levels.
“I cry for you my country, they wanted to drown you like Titanic, the rich have their diplomatic passports, they flee to live abroad, and the poor are waiting for death,” Tina said.
