When Donald Trump described South Africa as a lawless state that has been overrun by criminals, we dismissed it as racist dogma coming from an American presidential hopeful seeking to paint us black – but crime is now back with a vengeance.
This past week several young women have been raped and murdered and their bodies dumped and burnt in an open veld. These events must serve as a reminder to all that there is something sick about the new South African society, contrary to what we tried to create soon after independence.
Read: Coordination essential to stop crime – Motlanthe
I would rather not repeat this, but, for the sake of perspective, I guess I will have to. A young boy was cornered in a street in Soweto, stabbed multiple times and while bleeding to death, his assailant drank the young boy’s blood and rejoiced in a sick ritual fulfilment act.
Somewhere in the remotest of remote areas of the Eastern Cape, an uncle grabbed umshana wakhe [his sister’s boy child] and slaughtered him like a goat, and kept eating him piece by piece and until only his hands remained. The granny caring for the boy only discovered it then.
As he ate piece after piece of his sister’s child over several days, everybody in the home was worried about the boy’s mysterious disappearance and what fate held for his return. The uncle pretended to be one of the family members who was worried sick, yet he knew very well what gruesome act he had just committed on the innocent and defenceless young boy who so loved his uncle and would not exchange him for anything. Yet the boy was exchanged for a pork braai.
Read: Step up your home security to avoid becoming a victim of crime
In another instance, a father in Khayelitsha strangled or smothered his two-year-old child to death while the infant was peacefully and blissfully asleep. Then he called the child’s grandmother to rush her to the hospital because the infant was not breathing.
Somewhere in the notorious Cape Flats, a toddler went missing from the yard, only to be found buried in a shallow grave among the mielies adjacent to her family home.
In Sandton, Diepkloof girl Karabo Mokoena was murdered and her body dumped in Bramley. It was discovered by a passer-by in a smouldering fire. Her boyfriend, the person who pretended to love her most, is currently behind bars on allegations of her murder.
While people were at the memorial service for Karabo, the body of another young girl was found burnt in Naledi and just the next day the bodies of two more women were discovered in Soweto.
Jozi FM DJ Mandla Hlatshwayo and his friend Oupa Duma were shot dead at point blank range after coming to the rescue of a woman who was being robbed in Pimville, Soweto.
In Joburg CBD 11 men allegedly took turns to repeatedly rape a pregnant woman and when the police pounced on them, some were still queuing to have another round.
Read: Suspect kills man, rapes his lover
I can go on and on, the list is endless, especially considering those unrecognised and no name tag persons out there on our streets who are consumed by the relentless crime on a daily basis. You only need to read Alex News to understand the extent and magnitude of crime in the new South Africa. It has reached unprecedented levels in the history of the country, except for the apartheid state-sponsored crimes against non-whites.
This tells us we need a fresh start, implement a cleansing process and create a clearinghouse to flush all criminals, local or foreign, national or international, who have found a safe haven in our beautiful and beloved country and are abusing our hospitality.
Denials just for the sake of being politically correct will do us no good.
President Zuma does not feel the pinch because he has a whole army surrounding him 24/7 wherever he goes. Ordinary citizens who bear the brunt of the vicious crimes need to stand up and voice up that enough is enough, and the police need to do their work and stop taking bribes at every available opportunity.
South Africa is no place to raise children anymore because if they walk out of your house to go play outside, you worry whether they will come back alive or in a body bag. It’s just not liveable anymore.
