Are we killing out of envy

The Oxford English Dictionary ascribes different meanings to the word; “jealous”. Among these are: apprehensive of being displaced in love or goodwill, or of a supposed rival, or envious of a person, his advantages.

According to a recent survey conducted by the office of the country’s statistician and head of Statistics South Africa, Pali Lehohla, the reason why South Africans kill each other at such a frightening rate can be narrowed down to nothing more than simple jealousy.

Well, who could have said it better than the country’s top statistician? According to Lehohla, the high death rate in the country is driven by nothing else but sheer jealousy.

Lehohla described crime as often problematic to solve because it happens away from the prying eyes of the public and the police. He said many acts of criminality happen or are often committed by and between people who know each other.

He pointed out that people are either envious or jealous of their family members, friends, colleagues, neighbours, or even siblings who have what they do not have and this leads many to kill or maim those they perceive to be more successful than they are.

He said that people who are seen or perceived to be successful in their lives by their communities are the most likely to be killed or maimed by those who cannot accept their perceived success. This kind of jealousy, or call it envy, says Lehohla, could be either between relatives, friends, lovers, colleagues and even siblings and always end with a murderous twist at the end.

To prove his point, the respected statistician went on to outline the age groups of South Africans who are most likely to plunge a knife between your shoulders, or directly into your heart, or jugular vein, as young South Africa between the ages of 15 and 34.

Sexual violence is more likely to be perpetrated against women between the ages of 20 and 34. In the majority of these sexual crimes, the victim most likely knows the perpetrator, who in most cases may be a lover or spouse of the victim.

Meanwhile, Lehohla describes those he says are most likely to kill someone because of financial gains as between the ages of 34 to 54. He linked financial gains as the main reason why people kill each other.

Lehohla went on to paint a rather gloomy picture of the future of the country’s youth unless the issues currently facing them, such as crime, unemployment, poverty and education, are not attended to. He said these would have a negative impact on the future of the youth.

But what is even more worrying about Lehohla’s survey is the fact that a large percentage of young children are born out of wedlock and grow outside the traditional family circle and its values.

With so many young boys and girls being raised without father figures in the single-parent homes, it is going to be even more difficult, if not utterly impossible, to raise good, upright young men than to mend a broken society without a backbone in the future.

And the fact that 75% of the country’s young people don’t have a matric education, makes the future look even gloomier.