South Africa is embracing criminality

Violent crime and lawlessness have reached warzone proportions in South Africa.

Anarchy, along with protests and riots, are escalating and infrastructure damage and sabotage have become our new normal.

Taxi violence, ATM bombings, hijackings, xenophobia, gang warfare, hooliganism, state corruption, murder, home invasions, horrific farm attacks and, now, even taking ministers hostage are just part of a normal day in our once-great country.

Astonishingly, there are those in government who view the lawlessness as a sign of a “mature democracy”.

Is the recent spate of political killings also a “mature democracy”? Our government remains in denial as the country crumbles.

It consistently acts as though it is doing a sterling job and everything happening is perfectly normal in a democracy.

But there is an alarming trend – and it is indicative of a total collapse of law and order. It is also apparent that South Africa has now become a failed state, overseen by a failed government and an equally inept and leaderless parliament.

A comment attributed to Ayn Rand intimated that when the law no longer protects us from the corrupt and the criminal, we know our country is doomed.

Criminals are better armed, with illegal and often automatic weapons. Yet, the government wants to disarm citizens who legally own guns.

This is merely a ploy to make our citizens even more vulnerable to crime, and unable to defend themselves and their families.

It is a reflection of the trajectory the government wants to force onto law-abiding citizens: you may not protect your family and property from criminals.

This gross stupidity has resulted in many law-abiding citizens turning to crime as they purchase illegal weapons to defend themselves. Of great concern is that the people who make these stupid laws are funded by us, the voters and taxpayers.

Surely we deserve better than this? Or does the government take it for granted that we, too, must follow their example and embrace criminality?

It would do some in government well to remember that the power of the people is stronger than the people in power, especially when they are threatened by either the government or criminals.

As shown during the July spree of anarchy, people from all walks of life and political persuasions will stand together, despite the inertia of the government, and regardless of its criticism of those who defended their lives and livelihood.

Disturbingly, it was recently revealed that taxpayers paid R13.882 billion directly to political parties in the 13 years since 2009 It therefore follows that we, the taxpayers and voters, are contributing towards our own failure and demise.

So what are we actually paying for? Whereas the government has allowed the situation to deteriorate to an almost unbelievable level, correcting it is not going to be easy. But it can be done if we unite and put aside the false and misleading populist hate-driven rhetoric the government has propagated.

Considering that our minister of police believes potholes contribute towards crime and calls opposition political party leaders “thugs” when they disagree with him, we need to assess whether we are truly a democracy, or simply being run by an out-of-control, crime-supporting government.

The July anarchy that engulfed our country was a perfect example of how people will stand together when the government has once again failed them. Yet, even there, as people tried to defend their lives and property, the government criticised and threatened them.

This is not indicative of a government that wants to stop anarchy. Instead, it is a government that encourages chaos and anarchy.

The government ought to be a mirror of our morals, yet it has lost its moral compass. Likewise, the intelligence services, law enforcement agencies and the armed forces ought to be a window into the type of society we are.

Sadly, our window is increasingly becoming corrupt, dirty and politicised as these three vital structures are no longer able to fulfil their constitutional mandates.

Rogue intelligence agents serve masters other than the state, corrupt policemen inhabit the thin blue line and members of our armed forces go on strike.

If this great country is to survive, we need to ensure our elected government no longer embraces, encourages, and tolerates crime.

Unless we begin a campaign of accountability against the government, we will all simply become part of the problem and never part of the solution.

– Mashaba is a political advisor