It was with sadness that I read of the deaths of the two EMPD officers, Danny Hunt and France Langa; my thoughts are with their families and colleagues.
However, I must say that this, to me, is a case of “chickens coming home to roost”.
The police themselves, according to emails I get, have advised people not to stop in lonely areas when asked to, but to acknowledge the request and then to drive steadily to a public area before stopping.
They know that there are far too many illegal, criminal and corrupt people wearing police uniforms – both SAPS and EMPD – so it is not surprising that those drivers did not want to stop; regrettable but not surprising.
There was a window of opportunity after the 1994 election for the police forces to win the hearts and minds of the people, but that was lost.
I don’t think it was actually on their agenda at the time.
To do so now will require a huge effort, a total change of mind set from the top – and I mean very top – down.
I am not hopeful, yet I can still pray.
A final comment: if we did not have to have all the security lights and cameras as advised by the SAPS, then Eskom would not have nearly as many overload problems as they do have.
