Street races are illegal and life-threatening

It is said that no good deed will go unpunished. Well, in the past week or so, I have been involved in what I believe is a good deed, and trust me, the punishment has been cruel. Never before in my life have I been sworn at, ridiculed and demeaned like in the last week.

My deed: to join forces with those who want to put an end to illegal street racing in my hometown of Krugersdorp.

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On most Sundays, from around 10pm, a group of local residents come together just a few hundred metres from my house where they use a public road for their racing entertainment. Judged on the videos distributed on social media, it has become a very popular event.

Spectators, including couples with young children, line the pavement, comfortable in their camping chairs, recording the illegal event and revelling in the action. It does seem a well-organised operation, with the traffic light used as the official race starter.

But the reality is that these street races are an illegal gathering. And not only are they illegal, they are also life-threatening. Truth is also that most of the illegal racers hail from very affluent suburbs and families – the same people who constantly complain about the high crime rate.

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Our attempts to stop the races have been met with a barrage of criticism, condemning us because we are not focusing on “more important” issues and that we are trying to deny a group of young and wealthy to have some “innocent fun”.

My questions remain: what are these people teaching their children? That it’s acceptable to organise criminal activities and to view that as a spectator sport? And is it acceptable to break certain laws? Why not then break all the laws?

If a 10-year-old child is taught that breaking the law is a spectator sport, we are on a slippery slope. Illegal, can never be fun, or acceptable.

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Just remember: If we teach our children that breaking the law is “fun” and a “spectator sport”, how can we judge them when they grow up to be gangsters? For gangsters, a gang-rape is also a spectator sport.